Rhody
by Garriso
Summary: Professional hitman Joe Rhody takes a seemingly simple contract. But things just go south when the past comes back to haunt him along with a reforming Overwatch. Things just get crazy.
1. Chapter 1

Joe was standing in front of a bounty board somewhere in the Middle East. He had just got done with a contract earlier that day and he was ready to go again. He looked over to his side and he saw a guy wearing a mask with a bright red visor. He was looking right at a posting for someone called Ghost.

Joe didn't notice until it happened, but some local thug pulled a knife on the guy. Even though he was pretty old, the guy beat the thug's ass and left him on the ground bleeding out from his own knife. As the guy was walking away, Joe saw the 76 on the back of his jacket and he knew that the thug screwed up bad. Joe looked around the board a little more and finally saw the listing for Soldier 76, and then he understood. 25 million dollars was a pretty hefty price just for one guy. But Joe turned his attention to the one for Ghost.

'300 million, he must've pissed someone off bad.' Joe thought to himself. He looked around the board a little bit more and he didn't see anything else that interesting. So, he went back to the motel room he was staying at.

He connected his phone to a Bluetooth speaker he had and he started playing Separate Ways by Journey and he started packing his bags.

XXXXXXXXX

He was arriving home in Kings Row and he called a taxi and he was at his apartment in about an hour due to traffic. He wasn't actually British, he was born in a small town in the US, but he decided to move to King's Row due to it being a hard place to track someone down in.

His family were all mercenaries and bounty hunters. He was just one of many before him and he was quite good at his job. He used to work with a partner, he was pretty much a brother to Joe, but he died in an accident a long time ago.

As Joe was getting his bags unpacked, the neighbors above him were making a lot of noise from their music. He grabbed a broom and hit the roof and with the tip of the shaft.

Lena and Emily didn't know what was wrong with the neighbor below them, but it seemed that every time they turned something up even a little loud in Emily's apartment, they would hear the banging noise from below. The odd thing was though, they never seemed to see they guy. Whenever they went to confront him, he was either not answering or was not home. Lena found it a bit suspicious, but she really didn't care, neither did Emily.

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Joe was on an airplane heading to Prague to meet with a contractor when he saw something a little odd about one of the passengers. He was a white guy who seemed to have a prosthetic leg when he walked. But, the problem with that was that Joe had seen him in the airport walking perfectly fine.

For majority of the flight, Joe wasn't too worried, but as they were nearing Prague, he heard muffled screams in the back of the plane. So did some of the other passengers. There was a silent panic going on as passengers started to grab their belongings and barricade the doors to their section. Joe had checked the fight details before takeoff and remarkably, there was only one air marshal on board. In first class.

He made his way up there and he went to one of the stewardesses. He told her what was going on and she remained calm, much to Joe's convenience. The two went to the seat of an older looking guy and the stewardess bent down and told him the situation. He nodded, he got up and went to where the passengers from before were barricading, and the stewardess went to the cockpit and told the pilots about the situation. Joe followed the stewardess, but as she was telling the pilots the situation through the comm system, Joe noticed the guy from before. The guy who supposedly had a prosthetic. He was walking up the aisle and was fast approaching them.

Joe told the stewardess and he told her to wait there. Seeing no other option, she complied. Joe took out his phone and pretended to be sending a text and he fake bumped into the guy.

Joe said sorry and he kneed the guy in the stomach and punched him across the face. The guy was knocked out and the other passengers started to scream. Joe pulled an AK-47 from the guy's pants and he also found some mags in the guy's pockets as well. As Joe grabbed the last mag from the terrorist, he heard shots from the section he originally came from.

He loaded a mag into his weapon and he sprinted towards the gunfire. When he got there, he saw shooters in a gunfight with the air marshal. Joe killed a guy who peaked out from his cover in a service area and took cover behind some seats, the air marshal looked back and nodded at Joe.

Eventually, all of the assailants were dead and the marshal declared Joe as a temporary deputy for his help. Joe and the marshal basically enacted marshal law until the plane landed in Prague.

As soon as he could, Joe grabbed his carry on bags, which was the only luggage he had and he slipped away from the cops who were probably searching for him.

XXXXXXX

Joe didn't know how he managed to do it, but he gave the cops the slip and he was safe to meet his potential contractor.

He went to an up class hotel downtown and he went up to the penthouse floor and once he was off the elevator he was stopped by a security guard.

"Joseph Rhody?" the guard asked. "Yep, here's my concealed carry." Joe said as he took out his gun and handed it over. It wasn't like it would be very useful, it was just a Whalther PPK. Joe was frisked and he was then allowed entrance.

"Over here buddy." a man said from the kitchen. He sounded like he was in his middle thirties and his accent was as American as it could possibly get.

The penthouse was impossibly big. When you first walk in there is a huge indoor pool from which you could see most of the city. Off to the side there was the kitchen that had a bar facing outward towards the pool and doors were all around the walls, presumably leading to bedrooms and bathrooms alike.

Joe went and too a seat at the bar, which was made out of stainless steel, like most of the furniture that he could see in the room.

He looked over into the kitchen and he saw a man with short black hair mixing drinks and after a little bit, he turned around and Joe saw two cocktails.

"I hear that you like Bare Knuckle Boxers, I'm a little rusty. But I'm not a pro bartender." The man said. Joe assumed that this guy wasn't the main boss, but rather an underling or a relative.

"It's fine, I just want to get down to business. Where do you need me to go and who needs to die?" Joe said as he took a sip of his drink.

"Alright then. We need you to go to South Korea. There is a woman there that has caused us great trouble in the past year. Hana Song. Her success rates in the millitary have been raising stock prices of MEKA and our stocks are struggling because of it. I am not the actual person paying you, I am just a representative." the man said. "Well considering that the only contact I've had is with you, who am I working for exactly?" Joe asked. "Thought you would have done your research, but you are working for Katya Volskaya."

When Joe heard that he understood why they would want MEKA to fail. So, he signed a formal contract and he flew over to South Korea and he planned his assassination.

As the Chinese New Year was coming up, Joe looked at the parade and subsequent festivals that would be happening for it. He found out that Hana would be marching in a parade on a float along with her squad mates in Seoul.

Joe went and walked along the route of the parade and took pictures of several potential sniping positions and he finally found a suitable one on top of a skyscraper that was still under construction. It was about a half a mile shot from where he decided to set up and he figured it would be a piece of cake.

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It was the night of the parade and Joe was setting up on the top floor of the skyscraper. He had disposed of the security and the workers still on duty. It was around 9:00 and the town below was radiating light into the black of the night.

Joe had a silenced .338 Lapua magnum sniper rifle with a 50x zoom scope and he was waiting for his target to get in position. For some reason though, he didn't feel all that confident that his getaway would be smooth, so he had also brought along an MP5 and an M1911 with him, just in case.

As Hana's float was getting into position, he lined up his shot and he was about to pull the trigger.

"What ya doin' there love?" Joe heard in his right ear. He felt the muzzle of a pistol on the back of his head and even though he was a little surprised, he kept his cool. He got up from his prone position, all the while keeping his hands up and he felt slender fingers grab his wrists to restrain him. He no longer felt the muzzle on his head and he jerked his leg back and he wrapped it around his attacker's leg and he floored them. He turned around in a flash and drew his pistol. He turned on the under barrel flashlight on his pistol and he saw Tracer getting up. Her pistols were scattered away from her and she had nowhere to go.

"Well, then. Look at we have here." Joe said. Tracer had a fearful look on her face as she really couldn't go anywhere, even with her powers. She stuck her hands up and she slouched down a little. "So, out of anybody I expected to intervene. Talon, Vishkar, hell even Helix Security. The poster girl of Overwatch shows up. I wonder. What could possibly be the reason behind this little surprise?" Joe asked. "Well, we learned about your contract. And we figured that we could try and stop it. Because leaving D. Va alive is in out best interest." Tracer said honestly. Joe just nodded and he thought for a little bit. "Well, a failed contract wouldn't sit well with my employers, but the money I can get from Talon to hand you over might just be worth more than this contract. So, that's what I'm going to do." Joe said as he picked up Tracer's pistols off the ground.

He then restrained her and confiscated her earpiece and phone. And threw them off the edge of the skyscraper. When they were at the bottom of the skyscraper. Joe placed a device on her Accelerator.

"If you even try running, I will trigger this. If you try to remove this device, it will detonate. The device also has a tracker in it. So, I will always know where you are. If this detonates. It will disable any electrical device in a 1 kilometer distance. And if this device strapped to you does what I think it does. You won't want that happening." Joe said as he pushed her into the backseat of his car.

Tracer sighed in disgust as she righted herself into a sitting position.

The two went back to Joe's motel and they went into his room. "You can have the bed if you want, I'll take the couch. And if you even try running. You know what will happen. Joe said as he shut her in the bedroom.

Lena sat on the bed and turned on the lamp and bawled her eyes out. How had she let herself get caught by a hitman. A thug who was only motivated by money. What would happen to her when she got into Talon's grasp? What if Emily thought she was dead and moved on? What about Overwatch?

She had to escape somehow.

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Joe was on the phone with a Talon contractor working out the ransom for Tracer. Everything seemed to be going well and Joe managed to get a deal for 25 0 million dollars and he even managed to get a Talon hit squad to take her off his hands the next day. By the time he was off the phone it was midnight and Joe went to the bedroom of the motel room and he let Tracer out to use the restroom before light's out.

The next morning, Joe was up bright and early and he also woke Tracer up and the two set off to downtown Seoul.

They drove down an alley and they got out and a Talon soldier came out of a doorway and took Tracer in his custody and took the detonator for the device on the Accelerator from Joe. And he also confirmed that the money had been wired to Joe's account.

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Author's Note

Hope you liked this starting chapter. I just wanted to get back into writing action fiction because my other Fic, Read All About It! Started to get a little boring in my opinion. So, I hope this will be a new era for me. I'll try and update as soon as I can, nut there are no guarantees on consistency.

See you next time.


	2. Chapter 2

Joe was at home resting up from his last job and he was on the Dark Web looking for a new one. He was posting to a forum when he got an e-mail from a person called Sombra. She seemed to be pretty legitimate and she wanted to meet up at Big Ben in a week. Joe decided to take it. Even if it was bait, he was confident that he could get past the ambush.

XXXXX

Joe was standing it the clock's gear room around noon. He was looking out from a window that was right next to the clock's face and he heard something behind him. He turned around and he saw a woman walking through the door to the room. She had about half of her hair shaved off and the rest was black with purple highlights. She looked Hispanic too, but Joe didn't want to ask.

She started walking towards him and she ducked under a clock axle. "So, I assume that your Sombra?" Joe asked. "Yes, I have a job for you to do." Sombra said.

"Alright, what needs to be done?" Joe asked. "I need you to break Tracer out of Talon's grasp. I know you did what you did due to the price. But, things have not been going well for me since she was captured. I will be willing to give you her location and I will pay you 10 million in what ever currency you want." Sombra said as she approached Joe. Joe thought for a bit and he raised the price to 30 million and he was given the information he needed in an envelope.

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Joe was back home preparing his strategy. Tracer was located in a Talon outpost in a Russian town called Dikson. It was in the middle of nowhere and was really up north. The town was a port town for the Kara Sea and it had a very complex sewer system. The waste management facility just so happened to be right next to the outpost and the sewers unsurprisingly led straight to the waste management building. So, Jason decided to infiltrate the waste facility through the sewers. Then, he would use his position to infiltrate the outpost. He would have done a head-on attack, but he would get shot down as quick as you could say 'dead'.

As Joe was finishing printing out blueprints and marking out his path. He heard a knock on the door.

He went to the peephole and saw a redhead standing there. He recognized her as the neighbor above him and he opened the door.

"Hello, long time no see eh?" Joe said as he leaned on the doorway. "Yeah, uh, my name is Emily. I live a floor above this one and my girlfriend, Lena. Has been missing for about a week and I was wondering if you could just keep an eye out for her." Emily said softly. She handed Joe a flier and she started walking away.

Joe looked at the picture and his eyes widened as he saw a picture of Tracer on the flier. He smiled and he shut the door.

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Joe was on a pebbly beach on the coast of the Kara Sea at night. The town was a mile back and he was nearing a sewage outflow pipe. It was about seven feet in diameter and if his timing was right, there shouldn't be an outflow until the next day. He put on a wet suit and he grabbed his MP5 and his PPK and he left the rest of his gear, along with the dinghy he used to reach the pipe, outside so he had an easy escape. He also brought along a re-breather and a pair of flippers which were on his belt. And he ventured in.

After about a mile of walking along the sewer pipes he finally reached the outflow to the waste facility. He equipped his re-breather and his flippers and swam through the pipes until he reached a treatment tank. It was a closed tank because of the temperature, but there was a service ladder that went to a catwalk that was above the water limit. He left his re-breather and flippers there and he wasn't too worried about fingerprints as he was wearing gloves.

Joe stalked through the closed facility with his pistol in hand and he eventually made it out.

The landscape around the outpost and the facility was pretty hilly and barren. So, Joe got on top of a hill that was separating the two and scouted the outpost. It looked like it was a sort of field camp set up inside of an abandoned docking yard and Joe grabbed a pair of binoculars he got from a security guard he dispatched of earlier and he scouted the camp. It looked like Tracer was being held in a cage near the back of the inside of a central warehouse and in the middle of said warehouse was a fire that had several Talon soldiers standing around it. It looked like they were taking a break from patrolling. So, Joe had to act quick.

Joe slid down the hill, which was surprisingly steep on the outpost's side and he sprinted silently to the main warehouse and he hid by one of the big front doors, which was now locked open from rust and other corrosion. He looked in and saw that there were about five guards there and they were warming up it seemed from the cold. Joe assumed that that was all there would be since he hadn't seen anyone else patrolling when he was scouting.

He waited for the guards to break and go back to their patrols.

One of the soldiers went close to Joe's spot when he was going back to his route. Joe punched him in the face and as the soldier was stunned, Joe put him in a headlock and knocked him out. Joe then snapped the soldier's neck and hid the body. But, Joe took the soldier's clothes and he used his new disguise to fool the others and soon they were dead also.

Joe went back to the warehouse and he looked on a table that the guards were using and he found the detonator for the device he had planted on Tracer's Accelerator. He disabled the device and he went over to the cage where his target was being kept.

He saw that she was sleeping under a thin blanket and he banged the butt of his gun on the cage's bars and she woke up .

"I'm getting you out of here. I have a dinghy about a mile's walk away from here. Stay close to me." Joe said as he unlocked the cage.

Tracer must have been in there for a while as she practically stumbled out of it. Joe caught her arm and walked her out of the warehouse until she could walk on her own. Joe pulled off the Talon mask he was wearing and even in the black of night Tracer could still recognize him.

"You." Tracer said as she stopped in her tracks. Joe was a little bit ahead of her and he turned around. "Listen, it was nothing personal. It was just that, you had a price. And I got paid. And lucky for you. There are still people who want you alive for whatever reason. I also felt bad because, oh sweet Emily brought me this." Joe said as he dug in his pocket and gave Tracer the missing flier that Emily had given Joe.

The two walked in silence to the boat and they sailed off back to Dikson to a drop off point at a motel. Joe said his goodbyes and gave Tracer the keys to the motel and some cash and told her that she would be picked up by someone called Winston later in the week. He then got in his car and started to drive to the airport hotel that he was staying at.

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Joe was in Columbia this time. He was meeting with a drug lord and he was just arriving at his mansion. He had gotten there through taxi and for some reason they were being stopped at the gates when they tried to leave.

Joe was escorted through the mansion and he was led to the back yard. There he saw a Jacuzzi with a man sitting in it. He had jet black hair and was obviously from Columbia due to his skin tone. He was sitting in the Jacuzzi facing out towards his yard. Which also had a great view of some mountain ranges.

Joe went and pulled a chair from a table nearby and sat down text to the edge of the water.

"Hello Mr. Rhody." the man said. "Hello Santiago. Why did you call me here?" Joe said. "Well, your work of course. We need you to do some infiltration and hacking for us. Our organization is currently under investigation by the UN and we need you to infiltrate an old Overwatch hideout and retrieve information about our UN informers. In terms of hacking, I will provide you with a per-built program that will do most of the work for you. You just need to plug in the thumb drive." Santiago said.

"You sure you need someone like me to do this. I've done work for you for years and this seems like lackey work to me." Joe said. Santiago sat there silent for a while. A helicopter zoomed over their heads and Santiago looked at it as it stopped right in the middle of the back yard. Joe looked up at it too and he saw the door to it slide open and he saw a body thrown out of it. But a few feet down it stopped, like it was hanging from a noose. After a few seconds, the rope was cut and when the body hit the ground, Joe saw that it was the cab driver from earlier.

"He was a UN informant. We couldn't have him knowing that you were coming here. I thonk you now see our predicament. This outpost you will be infiltrating will probably be heavily guarded. So, my offer is 50 million." Santiago said. "75" Joe said. "Deal." Santiago said. Joe and Santiago shook hands and Joe got a ride to his hotel and was given his information by a henchman.

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Author's Note

Hope you liked this chapter. Unlike the rest of my stories, I won't be putting Notes at the start of the story. Jfc.

And one other thing, when I read back my first chapter, I forgot to mention Joe's appearance. If you can imagine Aaron Paul, your in the right place.


	3. Chapter 3

Joe was near the outpost now. He surveyed the outside of it and it seemed pretty lightly guarded. Santiago had said that the UN would be guarding the code breakers inside directly. But Joe saw the soldiers there weren't wearing the signature baby blue that the UN typically had. Instead, he saw what looked like Interpol special forces. Joe was already sketched out on this, but he decided to go along with it anyways. He sniped the outside guards easily and he made his way into the outpost, which was a shack with a hatch inside that led to an underground bunker.

He went into the shack and he surprised a few guards who went down in seconds. Joe opened the hatch and he heard shuffling behind him. He whipped around and he saw a Hispanic guy raising a knife above Joe, Joe put three rounds from his pistol into his gut and Joe went to the door.

He cracked it open and he peeked out. He heard a shot from about a mile away and he ducked out of the way just in time before the shot clanged against the door

Joe swore and he opened the hatch and jumped down. He landed and rolled to his feet. It was pitch black in the bunker so he turned on his pistol's flashlight. He didn't hear it when it happened but he was shot in the back and he went down. He rolled over quickly and shot his assailant in the head. He crumpled to the floor and Joe got up slowly and looked at who he shot.

He nudged the guy onto his back and Joe sighed as he saw the face of Santiago.

'Fucking rat.' He thought to himself as he went over to the emergency exit that he had marked on his blueprints.

After stumbling through a mile long tunnel he was starting to feel the pain from his wound. He finally saw sunlight at the end and he made it out. He walked a little bit out from the cave and he threw down his guns and he reached into his pocket and dug out a remote-like device and clicked a button on it before collapsing from exhaustion and blood loss.

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Joe woke up on a soft bed and with sun on his face. He leaned up and found his wound to be almost fully healed, save for a slight cramp. He looked around and smelled the fresh air coming from the open window. He got up from his bed and went over to the closet. He was only wearing a wife beater and a pair of boxers. He opened the closet and he pulled out a black shirt and some tan cargo pants. He put on some socks and his boots as well and he opened the door to his room.

Joe was back at his home. He was glad that his, "family", had gotten him out of there. Joe was born into a group of mercenaries who lived in the backwoods of Pennsylvania and it was a whole bunch of different families who lived together as one big, "family". There were about fifty people in total in the little group and they all lived together. The US Government had tried to seize them all for illegal activity back in the Prohibition era. But since they were located in what was basically Fort Knox 2.0, the government gave up long ago.

Joe went to the kitchen of the house he was in and he made himself a bowl of cereal and started eating. He heard footsteps behind him and he whipped his head around to see a young girl sneaking up on him. She wasn't any older than sixteen and when Joe saw her, she straitened up and sighed.

"Nice try Zoe, but no cigar." Joe said, laughing a little."Oh, come on Joe, you cold have at least pretended not to hear me." Zoe said, obviously annoyed. Zoe was Joe's adoptive niece, she was seventeen years his junior and she had short, black hair and stood around four foot seven. "Well, consider it a lesson. Be quiet." Joe said as Zoe took a seat across from him.

"But anyways, what have I missed since I last left?" Joe asked. "Well, I started my marksman training and I got top marks in my parkour and tracking training." Zoe said. The way training worked in the compound was that kids would learn how to read, write, and do math to a fairly advanced degree. Then they would start learning combat skills when they turned ten. They started with melee combat, then parkour and tracking. Then they moved onto marksmanship and then finally survival skills.

"Well, your on the track to becoming just like me." Joe said. "Yeah, everyone here is excited that you're back. Though the circumstances could be better." Zoe said smartly. "Yeah, I really didn't have any other choice though. I was betrayed by my contractor and I was shot n the back." Joe said. "Yeah, I helped mom with your wound, It was pretty nasty for a 9mm." Zoe said. "Yeah, I still feel a little pain from it. But anyways, what else is going on?" Joe said. "Well, Greg got a wife. She's an outsider, she took the pledge though and she is living here and is already pregnant. Her name's Sophie by the way, she seems pretty nice. Uh, Jack and Jason have both passed their survival courses and are ready to start contracting. I think they wanted to ask you a few questions though. Elder Max died about a month ago, I don't think anyone's gonna miss him though. My biological parents apparently tried to get me back from mom. But they dropped it when they heard who was in custody of me. Uh, we got some new guns that Fred stole from an armory a week ago for a contract. He wanted to show them to you whenever you got back too. I think that's about everything." Zoe said.

"I've been gone for six months, that's seriously it?" Joe asked. "Yeah, it seems like contractors are starting to ignore us for more, um, professional mercs, but if they need a cheap quality, they always come back." Zoe said honestly. "I guess that's true. With Overwatch on the rise again. Ops have been getting riskier and what some contractors consider, 'armature' are being left out of the fun. Luckily though, I can probably pull a few strings an I'll try to get more work coming in here." Joe said. "Well, it's not like we are struggling. The treasury is still full and we will still find work. But you said something about Overwatch?" Zoe said quickly.

Joe took a minute to process the info and he spoke."Yeah, I did a contract for Volskaya to kill Hana Song, some MEKA pilot, and I found the 'legendary' Tracer there. But she has seen better days in terms of her combat skills. I took her prisoner and I got a good price for her from Talon. But someone named Sombra paid me to break her out again. And all the while I assumed that Overwatch might be coming back as an underground group. I might have to do some more digging though when I get back to King's Row. Because who knows, they might need some people to do some dirty work for them, and that would bring work to you guys." Joe said sincerely.

"Ah, that's clever. And to be honest with you, we really could use the work because no one here has gotten a contract in about a week. And that's pretty odd." Zoe said.

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The two caught up on more personal things while they ate breakfast and around ten Joe went and explored the compound he used to call home. It was a former militarily base that was converted in the 1920s by the group's founders and it had been upgraded through the years so that it was compareable in size and defensive strength to an Overwatch Watchpoint. It had even been called Watchpoint: Rouge by a few Agents. It was a walled off compound with several military and domestic buildings inside it. It had it's own landing strip, helipad, and air traffic control. In the center there was a big courtyard where there was a gazebo-like building with a fire pit in the center. This is where new members or "outsiders" were sworn in. On the north side of the courtyard was a big city-hall style building where the Elders lived. The Elders were three people who basically ran the group and they had almost absolute power over the group. On the South end was a long road that led to a huge gate tat could be controlled by the people on the walls. On the East was a medical facility that had cutting edge technology and even a research lab that has come up with many cures for diseases that have been sold to the outside world. On the West was the hangar where several planes and helicopters sat. Along with the were several cars for different purposes and in the hangar was an armory that had any weapon imaginable.

Behind the hospital were several houses that had populations of one up to five, depending on the age of the occupants. There was also an ammo dump there along with a hydroponics facility, sewage treatment facility, a shooting range, an R&D lab, and an animal farm.

All of these buildings were connected by paved roads that were built all by the people who lived there. Past and Present.

Joe walked outside and went towards the Elder's house where he went up to the door and knocked. A guy in his mid forties answered. His name was Oliver and according to Zoe, he was going to replace Max, who had passed.

"Hey there Joe! Welcome back!" Oliver said. The two shook hands and Joe went to the living room of the house and there he saw a woman who looked to be in her early eighties and a man who looked like he was pushing seventy.

The four talked about Joe's recent actions and Joe told them his theories about Overwatch, which the Elders said they would take into consideration.

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Joe was walking around the residential area of the compound and was saying his hellos to some passerby who may or may have not have known him. He walked to the end of the street he was on and he went up to the door and knocked gently.

After waiting for a little bit a woman who looked about thirty years old answered the door. She had the same brown hair and ice blue eyes that Joe had and she smiled when she saw him. He was welcomed in and a little while later he and his sister were walking down to the firing range with several weapon cases in hand.

"So, Joe, what have you been up to for the past six months?" she asked. "Well, Mary, if you insist. I've been making my fortune." Joe said as he set up a sniper rifle and a target.

"How so? I thought you were going to give up that life when Jake died." Mary asked. "Mary, please. The less I think of him. The better." Joe said as he chambered the first shot.

"Well, bottling up your emotions for six months isn't going to help you at all." Mary said. "Mary, please." Joe said as he looked down the scope at the paper man.

"Listen, I know that you two were best friends and that you loved him as a brother. As did I. But you need to talk about it so you can move on." Mary said. Joe took his shot and he missed just to the right of the head.

He looked up from the scope and he sighed. "Listen, I know that you care about me and my sanity. But I can assure you. I'm fine." Joe said as he stood up. Mary took a shot and the two rotated and they didn't bring up Joe's former running mate again.

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It had been about a week since Joe had gotten back and he had recovered well enough and he was leaving in a few hours. The bright morning sun shone on his face through the open window as he packed his bags and he thought he heard a man laughing outside his door. It sounded awfully familiar and when he opened the door he found nothing there.

He closed his door slowly and turned around. He stared at the floor and visions in his mind started flashing. He saw Jake, his dirty Blonde, spiky hair. His defined features. He had looked pretty good before he died. In the image that flashed, he had the look of fear, determination, and a little pride on his face as he gripped the wheel to a car. It only flashed for a second and Joe was slightly taken aback by it.

He shook his head and continued packing. Turning on some music to distract him.

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As Joe was heading towards the airstrip that would take him home he went by the hangar and he looked over at the graveyard, where all former members of the family were buried. It was near the edge of the airstrip across the hangar. Joe was packing his bags into a tiny plane he was taking to another private airstrip the family owned in Britain and after he was done loading. He went over to the graves. He walked along the rows of tombstones and he finally found the one he was looking for.

He looked down at his partner's grave and he just looked at it. Aside him stood an apparition of Jake, at least in Joe's mind. But Joe didn't seem to care. Jake looked over to Joe. They were both about the same height and Joe slowly looked towards Jake. But as his eyes were about to meet Jake's. Joe saw nothing. He sniffed a breath and he went back to the hangar.

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Joe was back at his flat in King's Row and he was doing some digging. He had previously instaled a backdoor into the UN's servers on a previous op from about a year ago and he was browsing through their Intel on Overwatch.

Joe looked at the communications on official Overwatch channels and to his suprise he found a lot of activity from the past few months. He listened to them and he heard a lot of conversations between Tracer and Winston. And also someone named Athena. But they were all using some sort of code, so Joe had no clue what they were saying.

Joe was quite surprised that no one at the UN had picked this up as he was the first one to access these files since the Petras Act was passed.

Joe sat back in his chair and he thought about what to do. He had just confirmed his suspicions about a reforming Overwatch. And he also didn't want to intervene. As he wanted to see who else would be joining. And if the UN would react.

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Author's Note

Hope you liked that chapter. I spent a lot of time planing it out and forming passages in my mind. I mean, I know that English class is important, I just don't care at the moment.

See you next time.


	4. Chapter 4

Joe was dreaming. He was re-living an old op he had done with Jake. The two were in Asia somewhere. The details were still a little fuzzy. But they had to extract a hostage and they were being chased with their target through the streets.

Joe was driving and Jake was shooting out the passenger window. The hostage, a woman of about thirty, was in a ball in the back seat. She still had duct tape over her mouth and was still tied us as they had to make a quick escape.

Joe gunned it and he was on the highway.

Jake was reloading his MP-5 and that's when thee hostage died. She had gotten too brave and peaked out above her seat. Her brains and blood were all over the windshield and Joe couldn't see where he was going. That's when they crashed.

They had crashed into the back of a semi-truck and they had basically brake-checked themselves. Their car was thrown off the road and into a ditch. Joe was thrown out of the car and was lying about fifty feet away. Jake was still near the car. Joe saw that the semi they crashed into spun out and most of the cars chasing them were crashed and their occupants dead.

Joe saw another guy walking, or, limping down into the ditch where Jake was.

Joe wasn't in the best position to even get up. His head was spinning and his vision was blurry. He looked over at the man who was limping to the car. He was holding a shotgun, or something else. Joe couldn't make out what it was.

The man approached Jake and Jake raised his right hand up as the man raised his gun and shot. Joe suddenly came back to reality. He got up and he reached for his pistol, which was miraculously still on him. He shot the full magazine at the man, the las bullet finally hit him and the man went down. Joe threw his gun to the side and stumbled towards Jake's corpse. He stood there and looked at his partner. He had a chest full of rounds from the shotgun and his face had a huge gash across it.

Joe heard some sirens in the distance and he knew that he should probably leave. He crouched down and grabbed Jake's phone from his pocket and he went to the highway above. Wishing Jake a silent goodbye.

XXXXXXXX

Joe woke with a cold sweat. He jerked up and he started to calm his breathing. He leaned back down and was as straight as a plank. He was getting that nightmare for months now. Even before his visit home about two weeks ago.

XXXXXXXXX

Joe had a dreamless sleep until he woke up around eight. He was in Ghibraltatr this time. He had reached out to Winston and they had arranged for Joe to come down to the Watchpoint to talk. Joe wanted it to be on his terms or not at all. But Winston was adamant in this.

Joe put on his combat gear and he drove to the Watchpoint in a rental car. He saw several signs there saying that all trespassers would be arrested and all of that crap. But Joe drove up to the entrance. It looked like a toll station at the start of a toll road. He didn't see any road-blocks. So he drove down the road leading to the main base. He went through a tunnel and he found himself in a huge hangar. It was bigger than a football stadium and there was even a set roadway for cars. Joe looked around as he drove through the hangar. He saw graffiti left by some brave soul and he also saw scraps of ships that were probably older than Overwatch itself. Joe drove to the other end of the hangar and he saw what looked like a ramp to a parking garage.

Joe drove down the ramp and parked at the bottom level, as Winston had informed him that the entrance was at the bottom and the elevators were out of service.

Joe exited his car and he went to the trunk and took out an M16 A4 and a Glock 22. He holstered the pistol and he closed the trunk and made his way to a set of double doors a few yards away. He pressed on the door bar and he was faced with a long hallway. It was like something out of a '70s sci-fi movie. The walls were made of clean, white metal and the lights were just amplifying the brightness. Once his eyes adjusted he looked down the hall and about fifty yards away he saw a service elevator leading to who knows where.

Joe walked down the hallway carefully and he made it to the elevator. He saw two buttons, up and down. He pressed the up button and the elevator shot up at break-neck speed. Joe stumbled a little. But he righted himself as he reached his destination.

A chime sounded and the doors opened. Joe was met with a stunning view of the Straight of Gibraltar and he winced as the evening sun shined millions of miles away.

He stepped off the elevator and he went over to what looked like a huge launchpad. He studied the burn marks there and he eventually started going down the road that was behind him. He reached what looked like a hangar. There was a ship I there called the ORCA. It was huge and he looked up and down it with wonder. He had never even seen a ship of that size. He continued to what looked like a communication tower and he saw a building to his left which had a huge window. He saw below and to the left was a door that was wide open. Winston had described the area to him and he was suppoed to go there.

Joe breathed in heavily and he went towards the door and as he was walking through it he heard two voices inside.

Joe stopped in his tracks and listened for a second.

"Winston, I know that we need new people. But can we realty trust this guy? You haven't even told me his name." Tracer said. The spark of a weld was heard and Winston replied, Lena, I know that you are very jumpy after what happened in Dikson. But we're at the point of near desperation. My contact knows a whole bunch of people that could help us. And yes, they are mercenaries. But all we have to do is a bit of hacking to get their money." Winston said.

Tracer seemed pretty pissed and she started spouting off on how Winston was too naive and that this contact would be their undoing.

Eventually she stopped and after a bit of silence, they started to talk about other things.

Joe waited a little bit more and he then made his entrance.

He lowered his gun and he went up the stairs leading into the main room. He saw a gorilla in a corner welding something together. He looked away as soon as he saw it and he then saw Tracer on the other side of the room typing something on a computer. He cleared his throat and everything went dead silent for just a second. Joe looked over at Winston for a millisecond and a shot landed just to the right of his head. Joe raised his gun in a flash and shot the Pistol Tracer was holding. It fragmented in her hand and she yelped in pain.

Joe lowered his gun and Tracer spoke up. "Winston, are you fucking kidding me?" Winston sighed. "Do you know who this is?" Tracer said. "He was the guy who kidnapped me and sold me to Talon in Korea." Tracer said as she turned to Winston. Blood slowly trickling down her hands from her gun.

"I also saved you too." Joe spoke up. Tracer was at a loss for words. She didn't dare draw her other pistol and Winston wouldn't instigate anything. She just sighed in anger and stormed out of the building and she went to the barracks.

"Well, sorry about that Rhody. I didn't think you were the one to have kidnapped her. I don't hold you against it, you are motivated by the dollar. But I would like her to be with us when we arrange the contacts. So, go to the barracks and get some rest. Just make sure Lena doesn't kill you though." Winston said. Joe chuckled a little and he found his way to the barracks.

XXXXXXX

It was around midnight and Joe was sleeping soundly. Though Tracer was tossing and turning. She must have made a fair amount of noise when she turned over because she heard Joe stir.

"You sleeping okay?" Joe asked in the dark. Tracer turned onto her back. "No, to be perfectly honest." she said reluctantly. "Listen, I know that we aren't on the best of terms right now. And I just want to say that I'm sorry about that. But I don't even get most of the money I make. So I just have to take the biggest opportunities I can." Joe said.

"Yeah, I've dealt with you types of people before. But I've never had a merc be so honest." Tracer admitted. "Well, you talk to the wrong people then. Most of the mercs that I have worked with in the past. Esspecially my partner were some of the nicest people I've met." Joe said.

"Who's your partner?" Tracer asked. "He's dead. Died months ago. His name was Jake. He was possibly the nicest person I've ever met. Uh. We grew up together. We were both born into a group of mercs. You probably heard of Watchpoint: Rogue?" Joe asked. "Yeah, are you a member?" "Yeah, I was just there a week ago. I'm only here to try and get them under your service. Mostly because contractors are starting to ignore them and the money they pull in is getting less and less."

Tracer just looked up at the roof and thought about the situation. "So, I've told you my story, what's yours?" Joe asked. "Ah, it's nothing much to be honest. I was born and only child to a mother who die at birth. My dad took care of me as well as he could and got me a decent education. I joined the RAF after I graduated college and I was a member of Overwatch not even two years later. That was also around the time I found out I was gay. Met my girlfriend Emily a year after the Fall and I've just been bumming around ever since." Tracer said lazily.

"Huh, that's a lot better than mine. To be perfectly honest with you. I dealt with abusive parents who got killed when I was six. I was excelling in my training and I did my first op when I was fifteen. That really didn't go well. Got my GED a few years later and I've been a merc ever since." Joe said.

After he was done there was a silence in the room. Neither one of them wanted to break it either. But they both felt a slight feeling of respect for one another then and the night passed without further incident.

XXXXXXXXX

It was around noon the next day and Joe was standing on the cliff facing out towards the Straight of Gibraltar.

Winston, Tracer, and him had been trying to work out a reasonable contract for Joe's group. But they kept running into complications. So, they were going to bring in some representatives from Watchpoint Rouge to work out something better. Joe had decided to bring in the youngest Elder, a few guards for him and he was also flying in Zoe since he wanted her to get some experience in diplomacy.

Joe was looking out at the ships passing by when he heard a whistle to his right. He looked over and saw Tracer there.

"What do you want?" Joe asked curiously. "I don't know. Just a little bored." Tracer said. "Okay. Well, see ya later." Joe said as he walked away. "Alright, fine. Just wanted to ask you something." Tracer said. "Alright then Tracer. Out with it." Joe said. "Fine Rhody. I just wanted to know where you lived." Tracer asked. "Well, I'll give you a hint. I'm close to Emily." Joe said as he walked off.

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Author's Note

Hope that you liked this chapter. I liked writing it a lot. And I've abstained from doing this until now, but could you leave a review on my progress so far? I just want this fiction to be one of the best ones yet and I need feedback if that's going to happen. But, it's completely optional.

Anyways, see ya next time.


	5. Chapter 5

It was the next day and the Watchpoint Rogue reps were at Gibraltar. They had all been in talks about contracts except for Zoe who was exploring the base under surveillance by Athena.

Around 9:00 in the evening the reps and Winston finally reached an agreement. All mercenaries in Watchpoint Rogue, which was the compound's new official name, would act as though they were Overwatch Agents. But, Joe was exempt from this as he was no longer a permanent resident of Rogue. And so was Zoe, because she created a loophole for herself while no one was looking at the text document that the contract was on.

Surprisingly, especially to Joe and Winston, almost everybody at Rogue was accepting of this. And the Elders were therefore pleased.

XXXXXXX

The very next day Winston gave Rogue an opportunity to prove themselves with a simple task. Move several shipments of weapons from LA to New York. It seemed simple at first but Winston said that the weapons were extremely delicate, so they needed to be transported via land, and also by truck as Winston didn't want to risk Talon tracking the rail routes.

Joe wasn't too surprised at this as he had had to do similar things in the past. So, he and Tracer were elected as de facto Commanders and they decided to basically make one huge convoy.

They had to move a total of two big-rigs with shipping containers on the back and Joe voluteered to drive one and Zoe volunteered to drive the other. Meanwhile, Tracer would ride with Joe and act as a guard.

XXXXXX

After a week of going through transit and getting lost in the Nevada desert, the two trucks were cruising along nicely across Utah.

It was around 10 in the morning and they were just getting out of Salt Lake City and the convoy was cruising along nicely. Tracer was staring out the window at the desert flying by. Joe was focused on the road. Zoe was driving along about five yards away and was jamming out to some music.

Joe was getting tired of the silence and he wondered what he could do. "So, Joe, I've been thinking about what you said back at Gibraltar. Are you being honest when you said you were close to Emily?" Tracer asked, still looking out the window. "Yeah, I was, I'm honestly quite surprised that you haven't found out where I live by now. With you being a former Overwatch Agent, I would think you would be more studious." Joe admitted.

After Joe said that there was silence again. "So, uh, Lena. Isn't it? What did you do after the Petras Act was passed?" Joe asked. Not for any reason in particular, he was just trying to pass the time.

"Well, I met my girlfriend about a year later at a fair. And at that point my savings and pension were starting to run low due to me basically wasting it all. So I got a job as an emergency services dispatcher. It was a pretty shit job and it absolutely changed my outlook on life. I guess it made me a little bit more serious, because during that job I've heard people die horrible deaths. I heard the screams echo off the bathroom walls as the caller's husband's words came through the door, slurred and drunken. I heard people just barely escaping their fates, I've heard the reasons and how someone abused the caller for seven years, paramedics showed up three minuets after they jumped." Tracer said slowly, she looked over at Joe as if she was annoyed at him. Joe took the cue and they didn't talk for the rest of the day.

XXXXX

The convoy was passing into Wichita, Kansas and Zoe radioed over to Joe over the HAM radios they had with them. "Uh, we got some people following us. I think they've been with us since we entered Wichita. Do you copy?" "10-4" Joe replied.

"What in the hell does 10-4 mean?" Zoe asked over her end. "It means, yes, I understand you. 10-4 Apricot." "What's Apricot mean?" Zoe asked. Joe just sighed. Tracer would probably be laughing her ass off but she was sleeping in the passenger seat. "It's just a code name." Joe said. "10-4 Blueberry." Zoe said.

Joe pinched the bridge of his nose and he looked in the rear-view mirrors. There were indeed two blacked out SUVs following them. Joe didn't want to overreact just yet, so he left them alone.

XXXX

If there was one thing that Joe had learned from this so far, it's that truckers like to stay together, even if they were breaking the law.

Since they had passed through St. Louis they had formed a convoy of about twelve trucks including themselves. By the time they reached Illinois they had about 25.

By the time they reached Illinois the SUVs that had been following Joe and Zoe had taken the lead and Joe wasn't to concerned until he saw a roadblock up ahead. He was leading the trucks and he got on the HAM radio, "Hey there, this is Rubber Duck. We got a roadblock, looks like the Illinois National Guard." "10-4 Duck, How's the defense?" another trucker named Ham replied. "It looks pretty light, I think we should just blow through it. We can easily lose any pursuit they try and send." "Alrighty then, let's do it!" Zoey yelled over the radio. "10-4" said Jack as he ducked under the wheel. Lena was asleep in the passenger seat and Joe woke her up and she ducked just in time as the truck smashed through the checkpoint at a hundred miles and hour. Remarkably though, Joe's truck had barely a scratch on it, and he hoped everyone would make it through.

Once they were well past the checkpoint Joe got back on the radio, "Rubber Duck here, is everyone okay?" "Green here from the back, we lost Fry, he got ran off the road, hope he's okay though." "Ham here, all seems fine in the middle, but Buck behind me accidentally hit a guardsman, theres guts all over his grille. He said he'll get off at the next rest stop." Ham said over the radio.

"Oh, okay then, 10-4." Joe said quickly over the radio.

"Dear God! What made you think running a checkpoint would be a good idea?" Tracer said as soon as Joe hung up the mouthpiece. "Well, I don't know how much you've travelled along the US by road, but we don't just have millitary checkpoints, just, lying around. I think those SUVs had something to do with it as they turned off just before they hit the checkpoint." Joe said.

"yeah, I guess you do have a point, but seems like a pretty shit idea to capture us, or whatever we're hauling." Tracer said. "Yeah, whoever set this up isn't the smartest person ever." Joe said, slightly laughing.

XXXXXXXX

The two Overwatch trucks broke away from the convoy about a day ago, and they were almost at the end of their journey.

"Rubber Duck, I think we're being followed again, those SUVs are back. There's also a blacked out big rig behind them. What should I do?" Zoe said over the radio. "I thought I told you to not use that code name." Joe replied to Zoe. "Suck my invisible dick, focus, they want something. What do we do?" Zoe said.

Tracer picked up the radio and she gave Zoe specific instructions on what to do in case they opened fire, which was very likely. After they were done they continued on as normal.

XXXXX

They were finally nearing their destination and they were just getting out of Corning, New York and they were cruising along a freeway along side a school bus. Their persuers hadn't dropped yet and everyone was pretty nervous about them.

As soon as they were outside the city limits Joe heard a loud bang from behind and he looked in the rear-view mirror and saw one of his and two of Zoe's tires popped.

"Shit, stingers, these guys are probably gonna get us now." Tracer said as she unbuckled her seat belt. "What are you doing?" Joe asked as she reached for the door. "I'm gonna get rid of 'em love." she said as she opened the door and climbed onto the roof of the truck. She further went to the container and then she hopped and blinked onto Zoe's truck.

When she landed on Zoe's truck the persuers gave in and they started firing from the windows of their cars.

Tracer recalled and she drew her pistols and she breathed in heavily.

She ran to the end of Zoe's truck and leaped onto the first SUV and filled the driver's seat with lead and she continued to do so with the other cars. Joe and Zoe meanwhile were trying to keep the trucks teady among the chaos.

After a while there were only a few cars left and Joe looked over at the opposite lanes. He saw more SUVs coming, but he kept his nerve. He reached into the glove box and took out a pistol. He rolled down his window and he shot at the new SUVs which had also started firing at Tracer and were starting to merge with their side of traffic over the median.

Tracer noticed and she jumped back onto Zoe's truck as the last of the pursuers went down. She started to do the same thing to the backup when she noticed one of the SUVs going behind the school bus.

It was filled with kids who looked to be about ten and eleven and they had been watching the fight happen in awe as they all knew who Tracer was. Meanwhile the bus driver was freaking out and he was talking to the police who were en route.

Another SUV pulled up to the bus in front and the driver didn't know what to do as his driving skill wasn't all that great. Tracer saw this and she jumped onto the roof of the bus and she dispatched of the SUV behind. She went to the door to the inside and she leaned over the roof and knocked on the glass with the butt of one of her pistols.

The driver, seeing no other choice, opened the door and Tracer agilely swung in.

"Keep the kids calm love, I'll get you out of this mess." Tracer said as she pulled the driver out of the driver seat and took over.

While that was all happening another SUV had pulled up behind them. She told the driver to tell the kids in the back to move up and once they did she brake- checked the SUV and she rammed the front SUV hard and they went off the road. Tracer told the driver to slow the bus to a stop and to tell noting to law enforcement about her. He nodded and she climbed onto the roof and back to her trucks.

By the time she was back the police had shown up and she dodged a bullet from a police helicopter that was flying above. The sun was reflecting off of the paint and Tracer was blinded for a second and she was grazed across the cheek by a stray bullet. Sh cried out in pain and she blinked over to Joe's truck. She climbed into the cab and she saw several bullet holes in the windshield and she saw a red stain on Joe's shirt.

"Are you hit?" Joe asked. "No, but I did get grazed. What about you?" "No, I'm fine, the blood on my shirt came from some unlucky bastard who tried climbing into the cab from his SUV, he's about two moles back bleeding out I would expect." Joe said casually ash he shot out the window at another SUV.

"Ah, alright then. Cops are here, hopefully they can take care of these SUV guys and we can just slip away." Tracer said hopefully.

XXXXXXXXX

And that's exactly what happened. It was about a day later and they were just pulling into the harbour they were delivering to.

They went towards a warehouse and they drove inside. They got out and they were greeted by Winston and a little black girl, she looked no older than 11 years and she was talkig toWinston about some random tech thing.

Joe, Tracer and Zoe all got out of their trucks and they greeted Winston. "Hello everyone. I would like to introduce you to Efi, she's the person you were delivering for. And I would like to also congratulate you on your victory over Talon." Winston said. "Yeah yeah, when do we get paid?" Zoe said. "Right now ma'am." Efi piped up as she tossed a ceck at Zoe. Efi went over to the container on Joe's truck and she opened it up. She went inside and checked the contents of several crates. She went aong and did the same thing for Zoe's truck and after she was satisfied the Agents were transported back to Watchpoint Gibraltar for a debrief.

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Author's Note

I really hope you liked that chapter. I spent a lot of time writing and perfecting it. I would just like to say that this chapter was inspired by the song "Convoy" from C.W. McCall. So go and check that out if you want. I also got inspiration from Mad Max: Fury Road, if you haven't seen it you aren't living. So go see it.

See ya next time.


	6. Chapter 6

It was pitch black out. The snow was coning down in a heavy flow of ice and cold. Joe was set up on a ridge about a half a mile away from an empty and desolate dirt road. He looked through the scope of his sniper rifle down near some rocks where his partner was set up.

"See anything?" Jake asked through the earpiece he had on. "No, nothing yet. But keep looking from down there. The snow is getting pretty thick." Joe replied. About an hour passed in silence as the two waited. They were waiting for a North Korean military convoy to come by. The convoy was supposedly carrying a prototype nuclear warhead that was estimated to be 100 times larger than the Czar Bomba.

Finally Joe and Jake both heard the soft rumble of a truck in the distance. Joe adjusted his zeroing distance on his scope and he finally saw the faint outline of a Humvee in the distance. He estimated it was about a quarter mile away from Jake. He relayed the info to his partner and he took aim at the gunner on the top of the Humvee.

The gun jerked into his shoulder as a puff of blood came shooting out of the poor man's skull. Jake below was still on standby and the convoy was about fifty yards off from his location. Joe took out the driver of a truck in the center of the convoy, which was only the main truck with two Humvees at its front and rear.

The truck stopped and Jake came out from his cover as soon as he saw it stop. The other soldiers started coming out of their vehicles and Jake was taking them out at the front as Joe sniped the ones in the rear. After a while Joe aimed his scope back toward the front and he saw Jake on the ground. Clearly injured.

Joe rushed down to the convoy and he found Jake through the blizzard. He drug Jake and shoved him under the truck as Joe pitched a field tent he had in his bag. After that was done he drug Jake in and he patched up a gunshot wound in Jake's left shoulder. At least he tried. It was a pretty shady job as Joe's hands were shaking from the cold.

After Joe's handiwork with Jake was done, he took out a lamp that could emit either light or heat, or both.. He had taken it from Rogue's R&D Lab before going on this assignment. He tuned it to the heat only section and turned on the pickup beacon so a Rogue drop-ship could pick them up.

Joe laid down next to Jake's unconscious body and he realized that the lamp wasn't doing much, so he tried wrapping Jake in his arms in a desperate attempt to keep him warm. After a while Joe was feeling a bit better and he calmed down. All he was focused on was Jake's sleeping form and keeping his partner alive and warm. He wished that would have lasted forever. But little did he know, Jake would be dead in two year's time.

XXXXXXX

Joe jerked awake. He shivered a little bit as though he was still on that dirt road. Just trying to hold on. He laid back down on his bed in the barracks. He calmed his breathing and he settled down. He hated those dreams. He hated having to relive the good times with Jake. Because Jake had been one of the things that made the merc life bearable for Joe, there were other feelings too. But Joe tried to move past those.

In the morning Joe went down to the mess hall around eight o'clock and he got a bowl of cereal from the kitchen and sat down at one of the lunch tables.

He ate in silence and he heard someone else walk in but he didn't really care enough to look. A few minuets later Zoe sat right across from him and set down a plate of pancakes that she had microwaved.

"Sleep well?" she asked slyly, already knowing the answer. "No, you know how I get sometimes." Joe said monotonously. "Are you from the past or something? Getting Vietnam flashbacks or some shit? Because you never talk about them." Zoe asked, slightly puzzled. "Zoe, I may only be thirty, but I've seen enough for my life." Joe said as he finished his cereal. He stood up and put his dishes in the sink and he went to the armory.

Winston had been bugging him for ages to go and check out one of the things he had been working on in the Experimental Wing.

Joe walked into the armory and found it to be quite small. There were only a few weapon racks with a small variety of different assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, and SMGs. There were also a few Agent-specific weapons in there too. Such as Tracer's pistols and Pulse Bombs. But near the back of the room by the firing range was a room marked Experimental. Joe walked back there and he opened the door.

Inside was a huge room about the size of a basketball court and the ceiling was about fifty feet up. On the side was a room that had several pedestals with various things on them. Some had obvious weapons with different mods on them. Some were clothes, and some were just random bits of metal or random machines of which their function Joe had no idea.

Joe had been told by Winston to test the item on pedestal B2. Joe went to the B row and he went to the second pedestal. Sitting on it was a black nylon sleeve that fit his arm perfectly. It looked like one of those sleeves you would see runners wear in the morning to keep warm. Joe put it on his right arm and he felt a sharp pain from his shoulder down to his wrist, where the sleeve covered. The pain lasted for just a second but Joe felt it still. He then felt invigorated and that he could do anything. He went out into the testing area and he went over to a panel on the wall. He saw several different things from tea pots to school buses on it. He scrolled through the options there and he pressed the button for a car. He turned around and in the center of the room was a car.

He didn't really want to know how it had gotten there, but he was glad it was. He was told by Winston that the thing he was testing was supposed to give him super strength essentially. So Joe went up to the passenger side of the car and he straight up punched the side and the car went flying towards the other end of the room and landed in a heap of broken metal and electricity.

Joe didn't see it however, because he was on his knees clutching his hand. His fingers were all bent in weird shapes and his whole hand seemed to be bent back halfway down his palm. Eventually he stood up and he looked at his handiwork.

He looked down at his hand and he almost lost his cool. He had seen broken hands and fingers, but his was worst he's seen in a while. He looked over at the car and he smiled as the car was a smoldering wreck on the other side of the room. He tried to get off the sleeve, but it would only cause more damage due to it being really skin tight. So, he went down to the med bay and he used some of Mercy's old tools to fix his hand.

He was just getting back to the armory when he saw Winston in the Experimental room with the pedestals. He seemed to be tinkering with something when Joe cleared his throat.

"Oh, hi there. Have you tried the sleeve yet?" Winston asked Joe, turning away from his project. "Yeah, busted up y hand pretty good though. I went to the med bay and I got it looking normal again, but it still hurts like a bitch." Joe complained. "Well, I didn't tell you to punch a car. I didn't expect you to actually use it until I arrived. Because I was working on a glove that will lessen the shock that your hand will take." Winston said as he handed over a plain black glove to Joe.

"Well, thanks I guess. Is there anything else I can do with this?" Joe asked as he slipped on the glove, which fit him tightly. "Well, the way that it works is by injecting you with chemical compounds that boost your bodily functions. That's why you can punch cars. You can also run at approximately 30 miles per hour, but that depends on your pace. I also designed the compound to give you the ability to jump abut 20 feet in the air. But that's only if you want to." Winston said while rubbing his chin.

"Alright, seems pretty cool." Joe said as he went back out into the test range. He went to one of the far ends and he sprinted all out and he was at the other side in no time. He then ran forward and jumped up into the air and he landed roughly, but he was fine. He then tried punching a school bus and that went perfectly fine due to the glove.

"Well, that was pretty impressive love." Tracer said from the doorway as the bus landed. "Oh, hey there." Joe said as he glanced back at her. "So, what's all of this?" she asked Winston, who was watching by the pedestal room. "We are testing Joe's new piece of equipment." Winston said as Joe did a back flip twenty feet up.

She scoffed in jealousy and she walked out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joe and company were in Islamabad, they were there to disable several nuclear warheads that were being stored in the remnants of an Omnium. The weird thing was though, it wasn't the government that was guarding them, it was Talon. Winston had been having suspicions that Talon and the Pakistani government had been in cahoots, and this just confirmed it.

This would have been an easy op but, the Omnium was in the middle of the city. Zoe was on a rooftop about a quarter-mile away and Joe and Tracer were on the ground incognito at a cafe. Waiting for a guard change so they had an easier time going in.

The two were relatively quiet and enjoying the desert sun.

"Ugh, I hate these things. Who ever thought these were a good idea?" Tracer said. Since the two were trying to be as inconspicuous as they could have, she was wearing a burka and Joe was dressed like all the other men were.

"Don't worry, we should be able to take these off as soon as we're in." Joe said reassuringly. "Phrasing." Zoe said through the earpieces they were wearing. "Really Zoe, I know you're sixteen but c'mon." Joe whispered through. "What? Two straight people taking off their clothes?" Zoe said. "I'm gay, thank you very much." Tracer whispered through. "Oh, I didn't know." Zoe said. "Yeah, and don't be announcing it. Especially not here." Tracer said.

Joe wasn't really into the conversation and was instead looking towards the Omnium from the bench He and Tracer were on.

It looked like the guards were switching. He nudged Tracer and nodded towards the Omnium, she understood and they made their move.

They went towards a service door on the side of the building and Joe kicked the door in. The door hit the new guard that was coming to guard it and he was knocked down. The previous guard was still there and Tracer blinked up to him and knocked him out.

Meanwhile Joe pulled out a knife and he subdued the other guard and got the base's layout from him before killing the poor guard.

The two Agents took off their disguises which had their normal gear under them and they went through the facility knocking out or killing whoever they found.

XXXXXXX

"Finally, we found these bastards." Tracer said as a scientist unlocked the nuke storage for them. Joe knocked out the scientist when he was done and the two went into the storage area. It was a fairly big room about 50 yards down and 30 wide. There were nukes lined up in their own boxes in tall isles that went up to the ceiling which was about 5 yards high.

The way they were going to defuse the nukes is by placing EMP charges all around them in order to disable their detonators. Tracer stood guard at the door and Joe started to set the charges.

When the two were done they made their way out and they went to an evacuation point about a mile out where they met with Zoe and a pilot from Rogue.

When they got over Kashmir Joe detonated the EMPs and the indicator saying that they detonated didn't go off. So he kept clicking it and the other so took notice.

"What happened?" Joe said. "I don't know. Maybe someone cut a wire?" Tracer said. "No, guys, it wasn't that. Look behind us." Zoe said.

They looked back and they saw a bright cloud of dust and fire engulfing Islamabad.

XXXXXXX

Author's Note

Sorry it took a while to get this chapter out, but school has been getting more cumbersome now that I'm taking more honors classes. I am also starting another fic in the Dishonored Universe. Go and look on my profile for it if you're interested. But I'll be juggling this story and that one. So stay tuned.

See ya next time.


	7. Chapter 7

One good thing about the nuke was that everyone at Gibraltar and Rogue thought that it was an accident, which was true. At least from their knowledge. Winston had of course been pretty upset, but he was more worried of what might happen with the rest of the world, especially with the countries that had nukes.

He had used old communication techniques to tell most of the world powers about their screw up and most of the leaders understood and they didn't end up firing anything at anyone. They even arranged a cover-up, claiming that extremists detonated the warhead for their god.

XXXXXX

Since then the trio of Joe, Tracer, and Zoe had been laying low, but this was their first op in about a month.

They were in Belgrade and they were looking to assassinate a prominent leader of a rebellion in the country. He was located in a bunker on the edge of the city and it was heavily fortified and it also had a fully-stocked military base around the entrance too. The team decided to head in at night since there was less security and they could sneak around a lot easier.

Zoe was set up about a mile away with a sniper rifle equipped with a suppressor and a night vision scope. Tracer and Joe were creeping up to the base's front entrance. It was just a road-gate that was only manned by a single guard, who was sleeping peacefully in his control station. Tracer blinked in and she broke his neck, swift and silently. The two then proceeded up the road to what looked like a barracks and an armory. They decided to split up and along with the assistance from Zoe, they cleared out the top base and Tracer and Joe went to the bunker.

They found the entrance. "Huh, I didn't know anyone would make Fallout Vaults a reality, but they did." Joe said as he went to a control panel by the door. "What are you talking about?" Tracer asked as she went up and examined the door. "Well, uh, I'll tell you later." Joe said awkwardly as he got the door to open.

The door opened very loudly and the intruders were ready for a fight. But there was no one to greet them. They waited for a little bit and they finally went in. They walked across a metal bridge to what looked liker a control center. There was a control panel there for the door along with a bunch of out dated tech and there was even a weapons rack there.

Joe had only been using a pistol for the last few ops due to his new powers but he decided to take a shotgun from the rack due to the closed confines of the vault. The two went through the vault without seeing anyone, not even a speck of blood either.

They eventually made it to a central office that would have been used by the vault's leader and there they saw their target's head on a pike. His eyes were still open and it looked like he had just died less than an hour ago. Tracer went in to look more closely while Joe started to contact Zoe, but he couldn't get any reception down there.

He heard something shuffle outside the entrance to the office and he motioned to Tracer. She nodded and she counted down from three with her fingers before she drew her pistols and she then blinked outside the door.

Joe heard a struggle but there weren't any shots fired. He called out to Tracer but he got no reply.

Suddenly a flash bang was thrown in and he was blinded. He felt someone kick his stomach, but his enhancements helped him take the blow. He fired blindly with his shotgun and he heard a man groan in pain. He was then kicked in the face and Joe was floored. Just as his sight was returning to him he saw someone coming over to him, he was wearing what looked like SWAT gear and his face was covered behind a tactical visor and a bandanna. There was a deep red stain where Joe had shot him, it was covering the whole right side of his torso.

"Long time no see Joe." the man said before he knocked out Joe.

XXXXXX

Joe woke up on the side of a road. He was in a ditch and he could see several big-rigs and cars passing on the road above. He blinked a few times, but very slowly. He finally gained the strength to sit up. He saw a tree nearby and he crawled his way over. He couldn't feel his legs, but they were there.

He sat up against the tree and he heard sirens in the distance. He looked off to his right and he saw a big metal object about three yards away, it was on fire in some places and it looked like there was someone was getting out of it. He looked back towards the road and he saw red and blue flashing lights. He saw two figures start to make their way down and Joe heard two loud bangs. The figures were crumpled heaps on the ground, one was rolling towards Joe. He saw a bloody hole in the middle of the guy's forehead.

Joe looked over at the figure. It seemed to be trying to reload the gun it was carrying, but it was also holding its side and it eventually collapsed. Joe waited at the tree for a while before he could finally walk, his legs seemed to have stopped working for some reason, but he could finally move again. He didn't want to question why, he was just happy that he could stand. He went over to the car and he saw the figure on the floor, probably knocked out.

He went towards the car and he looked into the backseat and he saw Tracer there, she had a huge gash across her scalp line. Her Accelerator was sparking from the center. When Joe saw it, he reached down to his belt, where he found a knife he always had hidden near the buckle. He cut her free of the seat-belt and he dragged her out from her shoulders.

Despite his enhancements, he was left exhausted after he got her a safe distance away from the car. Which exploded a few minuets after she was in a safe spot. He climbed his way up to the highway and he looked out and saw that there was a vehicle in the lane closest to the ditch that wasn't moving. It was hard to make it out in the dark, but he realized that it was the black SUV that they had rented in Budapest.

He went to the driver side window and he looked in and saw Zoe passed out on the steering wheel. The cars were going around her and they seemed extra annoyed when Joe was trying to get her to wake up and unlock the car. Finally after copious amounts of banging on the window she woke up. She started up the car and pulled into the service lane and she got out of the car.

"I don't want to know what happened, you can tell me later. But Tracer and the guy who attacked us are still in the ditch. So, lets get them." "Okay, well, let's do that then. I'll explain what happened when we get to the rendezvous." Zoe said. The two hauled Tracer and the mystery man up the ditch and they put them in the backseat, being extra careful to restrain the mystery man.

XXXXX

After evading the police that were staring to show up, Zoe drove the car on to a main highway and she started to explain what happened.

"So, I was watching the entrance to the bunker and I was trying to radio in to you guys to find out what was going on. But I guessed the signal was jammed. So, I waited for about an hour and then I saw a guy drag you and Tracer out on makeshift gurneys. He loaded you two into a car and he started driving. I began to tail him and I radioed back to Gibraltar." she started to say. Joe nodded and she continued, "So, he must have sensed me tailing him when I screwed up at a rest stop, and he chased me all around Europe until now. We are just a few miles out from London, I managed to run him off the road but I also got knocked out in the process. And right now, we are making our way to Tracer's girlfriend's apartment." Zoe said as she started to enter the city.

"Jezz, I must have been out for a really long time. Did he have me and Tracer hooked up to something?" Joe asked. "Yeah, you guys even woke up a few times so he could feed you and so you could use the restroom. But he kept injecting some sort of anesthesia-inducing fluid into you and he would then knock you guys out and continued driving." Zoe explained. "Huh, I've only known one person to use that method, but he died long ago." Joe said.

The two drove in silence after that and they eventually reached the apartment building.

XXXXXXX

Author's Note

Sorry that this took longer than usual to write, but I was having a severe case of writer's block. But don't worry, I have some big plans for the future for this story which I think you'll like. So sty tuned.

Happy Easter, and I hope you get all the skins you want in the Uprising Event. See you next time.


	8. Chapter 8

Emily was having a quiet night. She had ordered herself some Chinese takeout which was laying on the table, along with a bunch of other fast food containers. Ever since Lena had gone missing a few months ago, she hasn't heard a peep about her, not even from Winston. And she had gone into a slight stage of depression and she was considering finding someone new to love, but she decided to hold out.

Emily had been watching some random movie on Netflix and she was dozing off. So, she jumped a little when she heard a knock at the door. Especially if it was almost midnight. She reluctantly got up and she looked through the peephole. Through it she saw a woman standing there, talking over her shoulder to someone she couldn't see. She opened the door and the woman sighed in releif and she pushed Emily aside and she led in the other person.

It all happened so fast that Emily didn't really have time to process what was happening. The person that the woman had led in was a man that she was sure she knew, put she couldn't put her finger on it. He was carrying another man over his shoulder and he restrained him in a chair with some cable ties.

The other woman, seeing the man restrained, went back out into the hal and swiftly returned, holding Lena in her arms, bridal style. She seemed to be struggling with the weight and the guy came over and they set Lena on the couch.

The man said something to the woman about medical supplies and she darted out of the room, closing the door behind her. Emily just stood there, watching the whole thing in a slight state of shock and awe. She was fixated on Lena, she had flecks of dried blood all over her face and she had a few short steaks of dried blood running down from a gash on her scalp line, she also had a big red stain on her side and Emily didn't know what to do.

"Hey. Hey!" the man was saying, he snapped his fingers in her face and she was taken out of her trance and she looked at the man's face. He had a cut on his cheek and he was looking pretty exhausted.

"What, who are you?" Emily asked nervously. "I'm you neighbor, I live below you. Not so much anymore though. But I just wanted to explain the situation to you. So, lets take a seat and I'll fill you in while Zoe gets the medical supplies we need from my apartment." Joe said, she was taking the situation a lot easier than he had thought. They both cleared off the kitchen table and they sat down. Joe explained what had happened since Lena was abducted, and Emily took the info quite well, surprising Joe.

Finally, Zoe returned and the three of them got to patching up the two people they had to care for until Winston could pick them up.

XXXXXXX

Lena woke up, she blinked her eyes open into nothing but black, so, she closed them again. She began to feel around with her hands and she felt the soft fabric of her bed, the one he shared with Emily for the last five years. No matter if they were mad at each other, or getting intimate, they had always shared that bed, there as never a night where one of them had to sleep on the couch. She turned onto her stomach, her left side ached a little, but she didn't care, she buried her face into the pillow, she was so happy that she was back. She didn't know why or how, but after the events of the past months, she wanted nothing more than the sweet embrace of her darling.

She turned to the inside of the bed and she was sure she heard someone steadily breathing on the other side. Lena was overjoyed, it must have been Emily, sleeping soundly. Lena didn't want to wake her, but she wanted to cuddle with Emily until the end of days, but she restrained herself. She turned back to the edge of the bed and she saw the digitaal alarm clock and the window It was around six in the morning and the sun was just starting to show through the window.

She figured that it was a good enough time as any to start the day. So, she got out of bed, being careful not to wake Emily, and she blinked to the bathroom, since it was quieter than walking across the creaky wooden floors.

She opened and shut the door silently and she turned on the lights, she took off her Accelerator and was relived when the docking station they had here still worked and she didn't vanish into space-time. She looked into the mirror above the sink and she noticed that her hair wasn't spikey anymore, her hair was so used to being spiky that it normally just stayed like that, but her hair was pretty much all down and wen she started to lift it back up, she saw a neat line of stitches across her forehead and she was quite surprised to see that. She looked down at her side and she noticed that there were a bunch of bandages there, they seemed to be form-fitting, so she hadn't noticed.

After she was done doing her business in the bathroom, the sun was pretty much up and she walked into the living room. There she saw Joe sleeping on the floor, the only comfort he had being a pillow, she saw a man slumped over in a chair, clearly knocked out. And she saw Zoe spread eagle on the couch. She went over to the kitchen and she made herself some toast and she also grabbed some OJ from the fridge, she went and sat down at the kitchen table and she took out her phone. She checked the date and she realized that she must have been out for over a week, since her last memory was fighting some guy in the bunker.

By the time he was finishing up with her breakfast she heard someone coming down the hallway, they really weren't subtle about it either since she heard Joe stirring on the floor from all the noise. Lena saw Emily walk into the living room from the hallway, everything but her face was exposed to the sunlight coming in from the siding glass door leading to the balcony outside, further highlighting her face to Lena.

Seeing her love there, Emily rushed over, avoiding Joe and not making any noise. Lena looked up at the taller woman and they shared a deep kiss that lasted for about a minuet. Emily broke away and she took a seat to Lena's left.

"Next time you vanish, please tell me." Emily whispered. "Yeah, sorry about that babe, but I didn't really plan it. It was mainly his fault." Lena whispered as she nodded towards Joe. Lena explained what had been happening for the past few months in whispers and Emily took it surprisingly well.

"Lena, how long have we known each other?" Emily whispered. "I dunno, I think five or so, it's been a while." Lena replied. "Yeah, and you know, out of all those years, this is the second time I've had any worry about you. The first being Mondatta's assassination, and that happened just a few months ago. Is there something that I should know?" Emily asked, she was talking in a slightly raised tone.

"Well, uh, I already told you about me and Winston reforming Overwatch, and with that, I probably won't be around as of then as I used to. And I'm really, truthfully sorry about that Emily. And if for some reason I, uhm, die, on a mission. I just want you to know, you will always have my love. I will never abandon you and to make it up to you, I'll see about having you moved to Gibraltar. But that's up to you." Lena whispered, her words seemed to strike a chord in Emily, she looked at her girlfriend with a renewed strength and she agreed to go to Gibraltar.

XXXXX

So far, they haven't unmasked the person that had originally attacked Tracer and Joe in the bunker, and it was mainly because Winston had told them not to, besides letting him eat and such. The group was back at Gibraltar, and Winston made Emily's and Tracer's apartment an official safehouse. So far, he didn't know about Joe's apartment, which was right below. The only people who knew were Joe and Zoe.

The mystery attacker was placed in a cell, and he was kept restrained and unmasked, but Winton was going to unmask him finally.

Winston gathered Zoe and Tracer to assist him and they all went into the cell. The man had been sleeping in the chair he was bound in when they came in and when the door closed, he was woken from the door's closing.

"Hello there, finally come to unmask me?" the man said in a mocking tone. "Yes, I guess you could say that, but I have some questions for you after we do so." Winston said in and official manner, he pulled up a chair and he also pulled out a clipboard and he started to fill out something.

After a minuet, he ordered Tracer to unmask the man by taking off his helmet, visor, and bandanna. "Winston, I know I'm not really at liberty to ask this, but I would like Zoe over there to do it." the man said in a sly tone. Zoe didn't remember ever telling him her real name since she just went by her first initial when she was being talked to.

"How do you know me?" Zoe asked as she approached slowly. "Oh, dear Zoe, so sweet and so young. You and Joe haven't figured it out yet have you?" the man said, turning his head towards Zoe. "No, and I don't really want to find out either." Zoe said as she continued to approach, his voice seemed odly familiar, but she just couldn't put her finger on it. She was being stared down by the man, it felt like his eyes were burrowing into her very soul, even through the visor, there was only one person ever able to do that.

She took off the helmet, which the visor was attached to and she tore off the bandanna. She gasped in shock and she stepped back in awe, and in horror.

"Now you see me Zoe." he said.

Zoe turned to Winston and whispered, "We need to step out, and don't let Joe see him unmasked, and keep his voice modified on all microphones until I say so." Winston nodded and the three exited the room and they stepped just outside the cell door. Zoe looked back at the man and he was smiling directly in her direction, it wasn't friendly in any way, like it used to be, instead it was cold and merciless.

A shield of hard-light encased the doorway and Winston and Tracer turned towards Zoe. "So, Zoe, I understand that this may be hard for you love, but who is that?" Tracer asked.

"That's Jake, Joe's old partner. I don't know how he is alive, I remember how beaten and broken Joe was after the op that killed Jake, and Joe was at the time, a lot better at almost everything. He said Jake had died from a shotgun to the chest, no way anyone would have survived it, he said." Zoe said, she was pacing back and forth.

"So, what's the big deal?" Tracer pressed on. "BIG DEAL!" Zoe yelled. "If you got to Rogue and ask anyone about Joe after he lost Jake, they would have hundreds of stories about how he went on mass rampages on ops and how moody he was on base. And now that Jake is apparently back, especially in this state, it would ruin Joe. If you think I'm getting too excited and worried, just wait until you see Joe!" Zoe said. She took a quick glance back at Jake, he was still giving her that oh so evil smile, she couldn't stand it anymore and she just walked away, leaving Tracer and Winston looking at each other, confused and afraid.

XXXXXXX

Author's Note

Oh boy, call me M. Night Shamylan because I got twists all up in here. I have so many plans for this and I think you guys are gonna like it. So stay tuned!

On another Note, for readers coming from my other fictions, would you like to see the return of Featured Songs? If so, let me know in a PM or a review. And now that I mention it, leave a review, I really want to know how I'm doing on this. Even if you hate this story with all your heart, tell me about it and your problems with it. And I'll try to remedy them.

See ya next time.


	9. Chapter 9

Zoe was near the parking garage entrance to Gibraltar. It had been about a week since she had unmasked Jake, and she was still trying to figure out how to tell Joe, but she just didn't know how.

She had spent a lot of time out driving around Gibraltar, so far she hadn't even gotten a second look from the cops since she had been driving for many years. She parked her car, which was a crappy little sedan she found in the hangar at Gibraltar. She went back into the base proper and she started to walk over to the comm tower.

She went to the top level and she was looking out into the Straight, she wondered what was going on over in Morocco, across that water. The people over there, not a worry in the world. They didn't have to figure out how to tell their uncle that their best friend is back from the dead, especially if that uncle is Joe Rhody.

She went to go and see if she could talk with Jake, but when she got to his cell. She was met with a wooden chair with metal restraints open, and no one inside.

Zoe went into panic mode and she got on her comms and she let Winston know about the escape. Winston didn't want to take any chances, so he initiated a full lock down of the facilities and he had Athena do a full scan of the grounds.

"Nothing of interest Winston, but I did find this on the camera playbacks from approximately two hours and thirty-two minuets and forty seconds ago." Athena said in her monotone voice. She popped up a camera fed showing the entrance to the parking lot on Winston's holo-screen, it showed Jake getting in a blacked out truck, there was a split second where the camera picked up the driver's face though and Winston had Athena identify it.

'Athena would have picked that up, but she was installing updates around that time. How did Jake know?' Winston thought as Athena finished identifying the driver. "Here is what I found Winston." Athena said as she brought up the man's drivers license. He looked to be Hispanic in skin tone and his face was full of acne and his head was more wide than it was long and his hair was receding. "His name is Donald Bance. He is a cartel kingpin in Columbia and was a well known financier of Talon. He is also known to do favors for Talon from time to time, he usually goes alone on these favors as to not attract attention." Athena said as she brought up a classified UN dossier on him.

Winston sat back in his chair and he then realized that he could use this to his advantage. If he were to somehow sway Donald to his side, he could use him as an in to get Talon information. So, realizing this, Winston called a meeting so he could share the information and brainstorm ideas on how to get Donald.

XXXX

It actually took a while for everyone to get there, but finally almost everyone was there, except Tracer. Finally, she came in, "Sorry for the delay loves, Emily needed help with something." she said calmly as she sat down. Zoe, who was sitting across the circular command table sighed and Tracer gave her the stink eye.

"That's fine Lena, now let's get down to business." Winston said as he sat down at what was considered the "head" of the table. "Now, as you all know, we went into a lockdown a short while ago, and gthat is because out prisoner has escaped. But, Athena managed to find the person who helped them escape, his name is Donald Bance." Winston said as the image of Donald flashed onto the holoscreen behind him. "Now, we could use this to our advantage. Donald is a higher up I Talon and if we could figure out how to blackmail or convince him into getting on our side, we could use him to get into Talon." Winston said.

"Hm, Winston," Joe spoke up, "does he have any kids?" Tracer looked over at Joe with disgust, she knew that most people from Rogue weren't afraid of using kids to get their way, but if he wanted to do what she thought he wanted to do…

"Yes, Joe, he has a 4 year old girl, a ten year old boy, and a sixteen year old boy." Winston said, he was having the same thoughts as Tracer, but he was more curious on what Joe was going to propose. "Alright, this is working, Does that sixteen year old happen to go to a school, preferably a public one." Joe said, and that completely threw off Tracer and Winston, but Zoe picked up on what he was going to propose.

"Joe, no." Zoe said. "Hold on Zoe, you haven't even heard what I want to do yet." Joe snapped back. Winston looked on a tablet he was holding and he asked Athena what info they had on Donald's son.

"Jay Bance is currently attending Tyler Durden High School in Los Angeles, California, United States of America. He is running a B average and his teachers have mixed opinions about him. He is also widely considered the rich kid of the school due to his father's wealth." Athena said.

Joe then had a huge smile on his face. "All right, my idea will work perfectly. Here's the skinny," Joe said as he went up to the head of the table, "Zoe, you will act as a transfer student from Canada. We will give you a fake background and such. You will attend school as normal there and you will gain the trust of Jay. When the time is right, you need to get close enough to his father in order to blackmail him. In order to keep it as real as possible, I'll act as your father and Lena will be your stepmom from Britain." Joe said as he gestured to the dossier of Jay that Athena had whipped up.

Lena sat back in her chair, she honestly wasn't expecting that at all. "No, I fucking refuse!" Zoe shouted. "What, he'll never expect it and it would be a good thing to do for experience, most kids in Rogue never step foot in a college, let alone a high school, unless its for a contract." Joe said. "What do you think Lena?" Joe continued, turning to her.

"I'll hold your hand at the most, but I'm not kissin' ya love." Lena said, "But really, it is not a bad plan." she continued. Winston agreed and after a lot of convincing, Zoe was on board too.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was the first day of school for Zoe, she was given a brand new car so she could blend in more with her fellow sixteen year olds. It had been about a week since they had originally formed the plan and Zoe officially had a background in the Canadian Education system and Joe and Lena were given aliases and fake jobs, they were currently using an old Overwatch hideout as a temporary house, it was just a small two-bedroom apartment, but it was cozy all the same.

Zoe was enrolled in all the same classes as Jay and she was heading to her locker. She had never learned how to use a combination lock so she ended up picking the lock discretely. She took out a binder and some other school supplies before she went to her first class, AP Calculus. She went into the room and she sat down at the back of the class. It was mid-April by that time and the students had already established their own seats. So, she ended up having to move and give her seat to some dumb, stereotypical popular chick. She went to the farthest seat from the door as she could and she started to look through the textbook for that class.

She scoffed at the material as she had already mastered most of the things there with her training from Rogue. To her relief, no one sat next to her at all. She had gone for a 'please-don't-bother-me' sort of look and she pulled it off fantastically. She also looked quite good at the same time. But as the last people were filing in another kid, a guy, he looked pretty buff and was really quite handsome sat next to her and she looked up from her book to get a good look at him.

"Hey there, I think you're the new girl everyone's talking about?" the guy said as he stuck out his hand. "Yeah, name's Zoe. Nice to meet you." Zoe replied shyly. She was going to have an easy time with the academics, but she was practically socially inept when it came to school. The guy was about to say something when the teacher cleared her throat.

Her name was Mrs. Fren and she was looking to be pushing her seventies and she was so thin that she was literally shaking. She started to read off names for attendance and she finally got to Jay, the guy next to Zoe raised his hand and Zoe finally knew who she was looking for. After attendance Fren handed out some worksheets and she told everyone that they were due by the end of class.

Zoe had finished the sheets in ten minuets and Jay looked over at her in amazement as she sat back down after handing them in. He wasn't even halfway through the first one and he quickly wrote a note on a piece of scrap paper and he threw it over after crumpling it up.

' _How in the hell did you do that?'_

Zoe read after uncrumbling it.

She wrote a message back and chucked it back.

' _Dunno, it just comes naturally for me.'_

' _What are your other classes?'_

' _In order: Gym, AP World History, Foundations of Engineering, and Honors English 10.'_

' _We have the same classes. Let's stop passing before Mrs. Bitchface catches us.'_

Zoe read the massage and she nodded at Jay.

XXXXX

After spending the rest of the block doing nothing, mainly solving the problems in the textbook, they finally got out.

"So, Zoe, you know where you're going?" Jay said. "No, not really, could you show me where I'm going?" Zoe asked. She already knew where her classes were, she just wanted to get closer to Jay.

"Yeah, no problem. Right now in Gym we're plating soccer on the turf field outside. You any good?" Jay said as they walked side by side to the locker rooms. "Yeah, I guess I'm okay." Zoe said, at Rogue, the kids always played sports and some of the best athletes in history were secretly from Rogue. "What possition do you play?" Jay asked as they neared their destination. "I dunno, anywhere they put me." Zoe said as she opened the door to the girl's room.

When she walked in, she realized that she didn't have a locker or any gym clothes. She was stuck with black skinny jeans, a black t-shirt with a Game of Thrones themed design on it and black skater shoes. She usually wore that type of stuff during combat missions so she wasn't that concerned.

The room was laid out like a swimming pool's locker room and she ended up walking through a shower before she finally reached the main locker bank. There she saw a bunch of girls crowding in an aisle and they were giggling hard. One of them had her phone out and it looed like she was recording something.

Zoe put her stuff down on a bench and she went to see what was going on. She went to the back of the group of five and she stood up on the bench in the middle of the aisle to see what was going on. There was a girl there who was changing and she didn't seem to be bothered by the girls that were taking photos and videos. Zoe had to admit, she didn't look to be in the best shape, but she wasn't all out ugly. She tapped one of the giggling girls on the shoulder after she hopped down and she whipped around to face Zoe.

When she did the others did and the one with the phone took a picture of her and the flash blinded Zoe for a second. She moaned in discomfort and she blinked for a few seconds. "Oh, sorry about that. Are you new or something?" the girl with the phone asked. She had shoulder length blonde hair and she had a ton of makeup on, she almost looked like a Barbie doll.

"Yeah, name's Zoe. Do you know where I can get a lock for a locker?" Zoe asked. The girls just stood there with confused looks on their faces and the girl that they were focused on earlier spoke up. "Yeah, in the office over by the toilets there should be the teacher, she'll sort ya out." the girl said as she pulled on her shoes.

Zoe thanked her and she walked off to get changed as the five girls went back to taking pictures of the other girl.

XXXXX

After meeting in the indoor gym, which was just a basketball court, the class headed outside to the school's football field. The field was made of really high quality turf and it had lines for both football and soccer. Zoe didn't really recognize anyone there and she finally caught sight of Jay and she went up to him.

"So, uh, who should I watch out for?" Zoe asked. "Well, considering you're in normal clothes, everyone!" Jay said, he slightly chuckled but Zoe smirked at the thought, she would try she decided. "But anyways, you see that kid over there, with the dark brown hair and glasses, he's the referee, so try and stay on his good side. I don't get why he doesn't play, he probably just likes dicking us over at every opportunity he gets. His name is Jared. The guy next to him kinda sucks at everything we do, but he doesn't give up. He's Jeff. He then went along and gave her the basics on pretty much everyone there. You had the stereotypical lazy girls, the jocks, which Jay said he was in, the nerds, and the inbetweeners. When they got to the field the teacher read off the teams and Zoe was placed on a team with an equal mix of everyone and she saw Jay on the other side. She was an attacker and he was on defense.

The ref called for captains and Zoe decided to go up with some other kid and they shook hands with the other capstans. They did a coin toss and Zoe's team ended up having to look into the morning sun. Zoe's team did win kickoff though. She was on the right wing and the teammate kicking off passed her the ball.

Zoe dribbled the ball down the field, outpacing everyone else and she dodged past a defender and she scored. She wasn't even winded from it and Jay just stared at her in amazement as she walked to her positions again.

It had only been ten seconds.

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Author's Note

Hope you liked that chapter, I sure enjoyed writing it to tell you the truth. I even got to sneak myself into the story too. So, guess who I am in the reviews, please leave one by the way, help me help you by telling me how to deliver more quality content.

See ya next time.


	10. Chapter 10

Zoe ended up finishing that game 5-1, and that was only because she let the other player pass out of pity. And after a relatively uneventful locker room visit, she went to her other class. AP World History. Zoe really liked the teacher in that class, Mrs. Ghal. She seemed to legitimately care for her students rather than treat them like the things paying her salary.

After that was a class called Foundations of Engineering, Zoe struggled with this one the most because the class as a whole was already stuck in the middle of a project and she was paired up with a dumb-ass named Kole who thought the class would've been easy, even though it was probably harder than all the AP classes at the school. And the teacher was a little, eccentric, to say the least.

Her last class was Honors English 10, it was a split block, which meant that lunchtime was right in the middle of the block. She ended up sitting at a group of desks next to the referee from gym and a few other people. They seemed like good people to hang out with.

At lunchtime, Jay's table was full, there were even people squeezing in by sitting on chairs instead of the benches that they were supposed to use. Not knowing where else to go, she sat by a lonely looking guy who was sitting alone. He had dyed his hair electric blue and he looked really lonely. So it came as a bit of a shock when the new girl, who was also pretty good looking compared to everyone else, came and sat next to him.

She quickly found out why nobody liked that kid, his breath smelled like straight up poop and he just didn't know when to shut up either. Zoe finished her meal and she took her tray up to the dishwashers and she went and sat by the ref from gym, since he was the only person she really knew. He and his friends seemed like pretty funny people, at least to her, and she sat with them for the rest of lunch.

After lunch she went back to her English class and after that was over, there was a study hall sort of thing that was compulsory to attend, much to Zoe's distaste. She was glad though because Jay was in that class. But he had to go to one of his classes to make up a quiz. He never came back to the class.

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After an uneventful drive home, she eventually came up to the apartment building that Joe, Lena, and she were using a room in. She parked her car and she went in the building, she took the elevator inside up to her floor and she went to her room. She had forgotten to take the key she was supposed to have and she waited a while before Joe opened the door.

"Hello!" he said excitedly as she came in. Zoe dropped her bag on the floor by the door and she went towards the couch and she slumped onto it. She stretched her limbs out and she sighed deeply. "So, how was your day?" Joe said as he sat at the kitchen table, which was a few feet from the couch. "It was fine, I honestly don't get the people there. They all seem to care about ruining each others reputations, there were only a few people who were actually legitimately nice people there." Zoe said disappointingly.

"Well, that's public school for ya love." Lena said as she walked in to the living room from her bedroom. "Yeah, whoopdy-effing-doo." Zoe muttered. "Hey, I never had an experience like what you're getting, be thankful for that." Joe said. Zoe just sighed and Joe decided to switch the topic. "So, did you find Jay?" "Yeah, he seems to be one of the main jocks at the school. From what I could gather from other students, he's got a sorta mixed reputation with the students and he's well liked by the teachers." Zoe said lazily.

"Well, that's a start, you talk to him at all?" Lena asked. "Yeah, in my first class, AP Calculus, he was the first person to introduce themselves to me. Although I really didn't talk to him past that." Zoe replied.

"Well, it's a start. Who've you made friends with so far?" Lena asked. "Uh, there's this one group of people, I really don't know how to describe them. They are sorta the nerds, but kinda not, they actually make fun of the nerds. I guess you could say they're a mix between nerds, stoners, and punks." Zoe said. "Well, I'll give ya a tip from my own experiences. Don't hang around with them too much. Try and get in with the popular crowd if you can." Lena said.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, Joe went and looked through the peephole and he saw a kid standing there, he had short black hair and solid features. Joe opened the door and he greeted the guy. "Hey, you must be Mr. McKnott?" the guy said. "Yeah, what's up?" "I was wandering if Zoe was here?" the guy said timidly. "Yeah, she's here." Joe said as he beckoned her over.

"Hey, what's up? She said coolly as she stepped out into the hall and closed the door. "Oh, uh, Jay sent me. He wanted me to give you this." the guy said as he held out a piece of paper. Zoe took it and she read it. She nodded and she told the guy she would think about it and he left.

Zoe reentered the apartment and she showed the paper to Joe and Lena. "Huh, well, if you got invited to a private party like this. He must really like you." Lena said.

XXXXXXXX

It had been about a week since Zoe got the invitation to the party. She was asked to dress lightly, despite the cold winds that were blowing through the area. She was at Jay's house, it was a mansion, it looked like a French chateau had been airlifted straight from France and put right where it was now. She marveled at the intricate architecture as she parked her car in the driveway. She climbed the stairs up to the front door and she saw there a really ornate knocker which she used and the noise from it was surprisingly little. But as soon as she let go of the knocker he was greeted by a wide open door with a butler who looked to be pushing sixty standing there. "Name please." the butler said and she said her fake name and she was granted access into the house.

She went into a mud room that was next to the door and there she deposited her coat, she was going to take off her shoes, which were just sneakers, but she decided against it, since that's here she had hidden a small knife in case anything went wrong. She came out into the foyer and she looked around, it looked like the grand staircase from Titanic and at the base of the stairs she saw a table with several white and gold masks on it along with a sign that pointed up the stairs.

She picked up one of the masks and she followed the sign, which led to more and more until she was directed to a door. She had lost her way in all of the hallways and she realized that she had no idea where she was. She shrugged it off and she grabbed the doorknob, but she heard something from inside. It sounded like moaning. From men and women alike, but it wasn't out of pain, but pleasure. She saw a dim light coming out from the door crack and she was already suspicious of the type of party she had been invited to.

She slipped on her mask and she turned the door handle slowly. She opened the door just enough to get a look at what was inside. She saw a bunch of people she knew from her new school there, they were engaged in acts that she really didn't understand. She had had sex ed at Rogue and she had watched her fair share of porn. She had even made love a few times with some boyfriends she had at Rogue, but some of the things she saw in there weren't explainable to her. She backed out of the room slowly and she just hoped that no one had seen her.

She turned around and she was met by another door that hadn't been there when she last looked over there. She turned back to the door to the "party" and she didn't see it, it was a blank wall. She was freaked out by this and she decided to just explore the halls until she found a way out. She started by trying to follow the way the signs had pointed her in, but she just made her way deeper into the house.

After an hour of walking around in the dimly lit mansion, she decided to call for help. She took out her phone and she speed-dialed Joe.

"Hey there Zoe, how's the mission going?" Joe said. "Uh, not as planed. The 'party' that I was invited to was apparently an orgy. I am willing to do most things, even killing people for a mission. But I'm not whoring myself out." Zoe said. "It's alright, you don't need to do anything that you don't want to. What are you doing now?" Joe asked.

Suddenly, the phone line was cut off and a male voice came onto the phone, the line had been hijacked. "Oh Joe, you were always so naive." the voice said as the phone hung up on Joe's line. Joe was scared by that, he dropped the phone and he backed away, in case something else happened to it.

"What's wrong?" Lena said from the couch, she had been watching a bit of the local news when Joe was talking to Zoe. "I think we need to go to Jay's house. Zoe's in danger, and I think I know why." Joe said as he went to his room, which he shared with Lena on and off. He opened the closet door and he grabbed a shotgun and a pistol along with Lena's guns.

Lena followed him and she got her Accelerator strapped on and she started to charge her bombs. She took her pistols from Joe and they started to head towards the house.

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Author's Note

Hope you liked that chapter. Trust me, the next one will be just as thrilling. I can assure you of that.

Also, a little PSA for any fans of Gorilaz, their new album just dropped. It's pretty good in my opinion. I really like Momentz, Out of Body, Sex Murder Party, and Busted and Blue. Out of Body actually served as my inspiration for this chapter. If anyone else reading this has heard the album, what's your thoughts on it?

See ya next time.


	11. Chapter 11

Jay's mansion was set up in the middle of a forest and was technically in a gated community, but it was far from anyone else. Joe and Lena had parked their car in the driveway and as soon as Joe got out he ran towards the back of the car and he opened the trunk.

"What's up?" Lena said. "Plug your nose." Joe said quickly as he rummaged through the trunk with one hand pinching his nose. Lena complied and after a few seconds Joe put on a gas mask and he gave one to her and she put it on.

"So, what's up with the masks?" Lena said. "Well, when I stepped out of the car I smelled a certain type of sweet, sugary smell. And I recognized it as a hallucinogen. That would be why Zoe called, she was affected by it. She's probably in there, wandering around as if she was drunk." Joe said quickly as the two made their way to the doorway. They knocked and were greeted by the butler. Who wasn't surprised at their arrival, because as soon as he answered the door Tracer knocked him out with the butt of her gun.

They proceeded inside and they came to the staircase. There they saw the masks and Joe picked one up and examined the inside. He felt around the nose area and he felt a sticky substance there. "Yeah, looks like Jay isn't what he seems, this could be a trap." Joe said as he threw the mask on the floor. They followed the signs to the door and they heard moaning and shuffling inside. They presumed what Zoe said was right and they proceeded back to the foyer.

Joe and Tracer didn't really know what to do so they decided to call Zoe to see where she was.

"Hey, Zoe, we are here, your last call got hijacked. Where are you?" Joe said as soon as he heard the line pick up. "Oh, Joe, don't worry about her, she'll be fine. She's wandering the halls in a stupor, she doesn't even remember calling you at this point. But, I have one request of you. Only you though. Tell Tracer that you're gonna split up and I want you to come to the pool house in the backyard. You have five minuets." the mystery man said over the line and Joe decided to play along. He lied and said to Tracer that Zoe was just mumbling gibberish and that they should split up.

XXXXX

Joe was in the backyard, it was really dark out and he could just barely make out the pool house on the far side of the pool, it was about 100 yards away and Joe cautiously made his way towards it with his shotgun firmly in front of him.

He reached for the door handle and he found the door to already be ajar. He pushed it open and he stalked inside. He switched on the flashlight that he had mounted on his shotgun's barrel and as soon as it flashed, he was met by the mystery man. His bright blue bandanna showing bright against the light. "You take one shot at me and trust me, you won't like the consequences Joe." the man said ominously. Joe reluctantly lowered his weapon and he was motioned to a chair by the man and they sat across from one another.

"So, let's discuss my terms." the man said, even though Joe couldn't see it, the man was smiling deeply under that bandanna.

XXXXXX

Tracer was making her way cautiously through the halls and she so far hadn't heard anyone only the creaks in the floorboards from her own steps.

Suddenly she heard a scream come from down the hallway she had just turned into and she sprinted and blinked as fast as she could down the hall. There was a door at the end and she bust through it. Something tripped her and she was about to fall to the ground when she saw a bright, blueish light envelop her and she fell onto a white stone floor.

She groaned in pain and she got up from the floor. She looked around and she saw that she was in a hallway, at the end, which was a few yards away, there was a big crucifix with Jesus on it. It was masterfully painted and it was further highlighted by the light that was shining to the right of it. She had a weird felling about her. A sort of deja vu and a slight feeling of dread too. She noticed that her guns were gone and so were her normal clothes, she was wearing some sort of school uniform and her hair was still short, but it wasn't spiky like it usually was.

She heard cheering from her left, it was faint, but she could hear it. She was really confused about her whereabouts, but she decided to walk down the hallway towards the crucifix. She turned to the right and she saw that the light that had been shining had just been a normal light. She was relived and she continued down the hall. It seemed to be well lit, but Lena couldn't shake the feeling of dread that was engulfing her.

She saw a set of doors that led outside at the end of the hall and she made her way over and she saw that it was lightly snowing on the ground. She went out and she saw a long road going towards what looked like an active soccer stadium. She folowed the road alone and she crossed her arms and shivered as the wind blew past her.

As she approached the stadium she saw a bright yellow Mustang parked in the stadium's parking lot and then she finally realized where she was. It was late November in her sophomore year of secondary school, Mount Sinai Catholic Secondary School. It was around eight, if she remembered correctly, and she was going to meet up with her best friend. Chloe Jones. And if Lena remembered rightly, she would be at the concession stand, ordering a soda.

Lena nodded to herself and she went up to the stadium entrance, the game occurring had already gone past the halfway point and the school allowed free admissions after halftime. She walked in through the chain-link gate and she went to her right where there was a big cinder block building with a bunch of people lined up by one side. Lena recalled waiting near a table where they were serving popcorn, so that's what she did.

She checked the watch on her wrist, 8:05, if she remembered rightly. Chloe would be there in three… two… one….

Lena finally saw her. She was a few inches shorter than Lena and she had dirty blonde hair. It was shoulder length usually, but she had it up in a braid so that it looked short. She was wearing a light winter jacked and she was sipping her newly bought Pepsi. Lena melted when she saw her, she was probably one of the best looking people she had ever seen in her entire life, she had green eyes, a heart-shaped face, and she seemed to always nail her makeup. Of which there was very little.

Lena went over to Chloe and Chloe was a little surprised by her presence. "Oh, hey there Lena!' she said. "Hey there, so, who's winning?" Lena replied, she didn't want to say that, but she seemed to be out of control of herself at that point.

"I think we are, the scoreboard broke down after the first quarter substitution. But from what I can tell, we are beating their asses." Chloe said as the two went up to the bleachers. They took a seat and they talked about some random school thing while the game went on. When it was over Lena was trying to remember what to do but she seemed to have lost all memory since they had sat down.

They decided to wait for everyone else to go down from the bleachers and while they were waiting Chloe asked, "Do you need a ride home? Isn't your car in the shop?" Chloe said as a group of loud fans went past. "I'm sorry, what'd you say love?" Lena said as she shook her head slightly. "I was asking if you needed a ride home?" Chloe said. "Yeah, yeah, thanks." Lena said as they went to the now mostly deserted parking lot.

Chloe and Lena got into Chloe's car and as they were driving home they were talking about some of the boys at their school. And eventually the conversation turned towards sex. "So, Lena, you still a virgin?" Chloe asked. She had had many partners while at the school and Lena so far has had no one. "No, not really, closest I've gotten was a hug to be honest with ya." Lena said awkwardly. "Well, that's a shame, I figured that someone would have tried to get you in bed." Chloe said slyly. Lena chuckled awkwardly as they turned onto Lena's street. Chloe parked the car in the driveway to the small suburban house and Lena unbuckled herself.

Lena got out and she walked over to the driver side window. Chloe rolled it down and Lena was about to say goodbye when Chloe bust out, "Hey, you mind if I come in for a bit. I really don't have anything else to do." Lena was a little taken aback by that and she agreed. She didn't have any plans either and it was a Friday night.

So, they both went inside the house and Lena threw her coat over a chair by the kitchen table. Meanwhile Chloe slipped off her shoes by the door and she put her coat on a hook on the back of the door. She sat quaintly on the couch while Lena rummaged in the kitchen cabinet for some chips or popcorn.

"Hey Chloe, what'd ya want? Crisps or some popcorn?" Lena yelled from the kitchen. "Oh, I don't care, mind if I throw on some Netflix?" Chloe responded. "Yeah, sure love!" Lena said back. Lena dug a bag of popcorn out from the back of the cabinet and she threw it in the microwave to pop. After that was done, she loaded it into a bowl and she went back to the living room where Chloe was browsing movies.

"What sounds good to you?" Chloe said as she went through the Featured section. "What about _Some Like It Bot_? I haven't seen that in a while." Lena said as she sat down next to her friend.

"Oh, you into that stuff?" Chloe said, with a hint of flirt in her voice. "Ha, screw off, it's a good movie!" Lena said. They started the movie and about halfway they got cold, so they bunched together under a blanket. Even though Lena was a few inches taller than Chloe, Chloe seemed to hold her in a dominate bear hug, Lena didn't really mind as she assumed that Chloe was just cold.

After the end of the movie, Chloe turned her head to Lena and Lena felt the warm breath on her neck and she turned towards her friend. Her eyes seemed to sparkle in the dim light and before Lena knew it, she was locked in a deep kiss with Chloe. She wasn't really expecting it, along with it being her first kiss, she pulled away pretty quickly. "Wha-?" Lena started to say, but Chloe went in for it again, and this time, something clicked in Lena and she fell into it.

Chloe pushed Lena onto her back and the two made out for a solid two minuets. Chloe's hand started to make its way down to where it really mattered and Lena didn't mind at all, she actually wanted it.

XXXXXXX

A blinding light came into view as Tracer stumbled into a potted plant. She blinked a few times and she looked around, she had no idea where she was in the house, and she didn't even know if what she just went through happened or not.

She shook her head and she then realized that her gas mask was nowhere to be seen. She started to lose her cool as she started to smell that sickly sweet smell that Joe was talking about. She continued to walk through the mansion in a daze.

She had no real direction and she eventually found Zoe. She was laying on a love seat in the middle of what looked like a loft. There was a warm, crackling fire burning in the white marble fireplace, it contrasted nicely with the dark wooden paneling that covered the room.

Lena made her way over to Zoe and she took a look at her. She was wide-eyed and she was mumbling to herself, long strands of her relatively short hair were covering her face and she was curled up in a fetal position.

Len reached out to touch Zoe, but as she did, a bright light flashed again and Lena was left in complete and utter blackness.

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Author's Note

Hope that you're liking these, some feedback would be appreciated too. I'll also be raising this story's rating to M due to this chapter's and the next few's content.

See ya next time


	12. Chapter 12

Joe stared at the man in disbelief, he didn't know why he would possibly need anything from Joe or Overwatch for that matter.

"What do you mean? Demands?" Joe said confused, he cocked his head to the side. "Well, I fear I must have misspoken. You want the intel that you came here for. And I know why you want it. And I want something from you in return. And to be completely honest with you, what I request is very trivial." the man said.

Joe sighed and he looked up at the singular light illuminating the room, he saw something funny-looking on the wire that the light was hanging from. "Well, if I'm going to discuss anything with you, turn off the mic, or camera, whatever you have up there." Joe said as he looked back down. "No." the man said. The started each other down and after a few seconds Joe drew his pistol quickly and he shot the thing and it fell down. Revealing it as being a small canister of whatever gas that was pumping through the facility.

"Fucking typical of you Joe. Always so rash." the man said. "How do you even know my name?" Joe asked. "I'm quite surprised that you haven't figured it out yet. You might just want to have a quick chat with Zoe when she's more able." the man said. Joe sighed in frustration and the man smiled under his bandanna.

"But anyways Joe, here is my offer. You will get free roam of this house for the next forty-eight hours, Zoe and Tracer will be released from their hallucinated state. And in return, I only ask that you do a single favor for me. A single favor, I don't particularly know what it is yet, my superiors haven't gotten to me about that." the man said.

Joe thought about it for a minuet, it seemed almost too good to be true. But, they really needed that Intel and there seemed to be zero safeguard that would prevent Joe from not following through on his end. So, he accepted and the man clicked a button on a remote and Joe assumed that was the gas. He was then given a track phone for exclusive contact with Talon. Then the man got up and left, Joe heard a drop ship outside and he was relived that this whole op would be done soon.

XXXXXXX

Lena finally awoke with a loud gasp. She was breathing heavily as she looked around the room she was in. She saw that she was in the same room that she blacked out in and that Zoe was still on the couch, although she seemed to be peacefully sleeping. Lena was in a recliner and she was fully reclined back.

She got out of the chair and she woke Zoe up, she was really confused at first, but Tracer started to drag her though the nearest door anyways. They eventually found their way to the foyer, Tracer explaining what had happened to Zoe and that Joe was searching the other rooms in the house.

After a few minuets Joe finally showed up, "So, I went to the master bedroom and I looked around and found the stuff we need." Joe said, holding up a manila folder. "Alright, we need to get the fuck outta here!" Tracer said frantically. "Don't worry, I found a valve for the gas, you're fine." Joe lied reassuringly, and eventually they were driving back to the apartment.

XXXXXX

Reaper, Sombra, and Jake were standing outside a testing room. It was around nine in the morning, but they were deep enough underground to where they wouldn't even have known.

"Jake, how's your little, experiment, coming along?" Reaper asked Jake, looking though a window into a dark testing chamber. "It's coming along very nicely sir, the gas seemed to work very well. And our guest seems to be in a stable condition, even though they're dead." Jake said as he stood next to the angel of death.

"So, why am I here? I already know what's happening." Sombra complained. "Because, you have all the info that we need. Could you send it to me?" Jake said. "You know? Your e-mail is a thing, just shoot me one." Sombra said, clearly annoyed. She ended up staying anyway due to curiosity.

Jake turned to one of the scientists that was manning a terminal next to them and Jake nodded. The scientist nodded back and he started to turn on the lights in the testing room, inside there was a capsule, it was made out of metal and it had a bunch of random hoses and wires coming out of it. Next to it there was a table with a set of clothes and two chairs set up across from each other. The scientist counted down from three to the other scientists and they all turned several switches on at once and the machine in the room began to shake. After about a solid minuet of shaking and vibrating. The machine stopped.

Steam and other gasses started to come out of the sides of the capsule and after a few seconds the capsule opened. There was too much steam to really see anything, but Jake took that as his cue. He put on his bandanna and flipped down his visor and he went in. He stood to the side of the capsule and he waited for the steam to clear out. He was really nervous on what he might find after it cleared, but he remembered when he did it. And everything turned out fine with his case.

XXXXXXXX

It was high school graduation for Lena. She had been waiting for this moment for a really long time. She and Chloe had been dating for two years now and they were ready to just tell everyone without fear of punishment from their school's asshole, no gay policy. But, it was a Catholic school, what do ya expect.

So far it was just Chloe, Lena, and a few close friends who knew about the relationship and the two lovers were excited to tell their parents, they just hoped everything went alright.

After the ceremonies, Lena drove home and she put away her gown and cap. She was going out to eat to celebrate and she wanted to look presentable, she also wanted to grab some notes she had written down about what she was gong to tell her and Chloe's parents, since they were all deeply religious. Chloe had told her that she was over-blowing the situation and that she needed to calm down. But Lena didn't want to take any chances with this.

XXXXXX

The Oxtons and the Joness were sitting at a table in a Nando's and Lena and Chloe were sitting next to each other, Lena's parents were across from her and Chloe's mom was to her left and her dad was across from her. They were talking about what Lena and Chloe were going to do now after high school.

"So, what colleges were you looking at?" Mr. Jones asked Lena. "Well, actually, I was looking to go into the RAF as a pilot." Lena said as she dipped a fry into some ketchup. "Huh, well Chloe was thinking about going into the military too, what was it? Covert ops you said?" Mrs. Jones said excitedly. "Criminal Investigation for MI6, it isn't military per say. But I interned there and they seemed to like me enough." Chloe said, slightly annoyed, she got up and she went to the bathroom. She and Lena used this as a tactic to talk in private in these situations,

 _L: So, when are we going to tell them?_

 _C: As soon as I get back I suppose, I think everyone is pretty much done with their meal, right?_

 _L: Yeah, I suppose so. Do you want to tell them first, or should I?_

 _C: Well, if you want to, I'm not gonna stop you lol_

 _L: Fine, I'll do it you fucking pansy._

Lena smiled as she sent that last text and she waited patiently for Chloe to get back. Her meal left virtually untouched.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Chloe came back and she sat down, taking a deep breath. Lena looked over at her and she nodded at her, she did likewise and Lena cleared her throat. Their parents were having a conversation and they quieted down as soon as they heard Lena.

"Uhm, I know that um, you guys should have known this maybe sooner that you really should have. But the last thing that we want, especially what I want, is to disappoint you all. We just want you to know that we are still the same people, and that we aren't freaks of nature or monstrosities made in a lab somewhere. But we feel that it was-" Lena started to say but she was cut off by Chloe. "We're gay." she blurted out. Their parents just sat there like they just saw something incredibly confusing and Mr. Oxton eventually spoke up. "What?" "Dad, we're gay." Lena said quietly. Mrs. Oxton leaned back in her chair and she sighed, she had already heard from one of Lena's other friends that she was gay, but she had passed it off as a joke. She got out her purse and she laid down a hundred pounds for the bill and she got up and she left the table. Mr. Jones got up to and he went to the bathroom. Mr. Oxton continued to eat his meal, as if nothing had changed and Mrs. Jones was visibly crying, even though she was trying to cover it up.

"Chloe looked at Lena for some sort of reaction and Lena just shrugged. They were about to get up and leave when Mr. Oxton spoke up. "Girls, I know that the others may not be so accepting of your revelation, but just know this, you will always have support from me." he said as he got up to. The three of them walked out and they went home.

XXXXXX

Chloe was sitting on a train in northern France going through the Argonne Forest. She was on a mission for MI6 in conjunction with Overwatch. It had always been her dream to work with the heroes and Lena was ecstatic when Chloe told her. Lena seemed to be doing just fine in the RAF and she was actually gaining a really good reputation. Chloe had even herd that she had gained the nickname 'Tracer' from one mission that involved a lot of really tight maneuvering. Chloe sat back in her seat and she went over her mission brief in her head as she started to untangle her earbuds.

She began to look out the window and she thought she saw what looked like a jeep moving through the forest. Suddenly, the train stopped and Chloe was thrown from her seat and into the back of the one in front of her. She righted herself and she decided to go and talk to the conductor. As she got up and exited the car, the train was struck off the tracks by some outside force and it started to tip over. Luckily though Chloe was right in between cars and she managed to pry the doors open and she jumped out as the train tipped over into a ditch net to the tracks.

She had landed roughly and she was on all fours in the middle of the tracks, she could hear the screams of the other passengers erupting from the train and she got up and dusted herself off. She looked to her right and she saw a black APC on the tracks, it's front bumper was severely dented. Chloe drew her pistol that she always kept on her on these sort of ops and she slowly approached the APC. Suddenly, the passenger side of the door opened, a man stepped out and he saw her. He reached into the vehicle and he pulled out a gun. Chloe ran to the side of the track where the train hadn't landed and she took cover as bullets started to fly past her.

She went further into the forest as she saw a squad of what looked like paramilitary troops run towards her. She started to fire back at them and she managed to take one of them down. She then saw what looked like an old trench left over from WW1 and she dove into it. She reloaded and she ran down the trench and into a dugout. She went down the stairs and she ran down a corridor and into what looked like an officer's quarters. She heard shouts in French and English coming down the corridor and she aimed her gun at head height where the corridor led into her hiding spot.

A man turned into the room and she fired her gun. The bullet went straight through his head and out behind it. The bullet landed in a piece of wood that was supporting the tunnel and after a few rumbles, she saw the other soldiers running out. She didn't want to risk getting shot, so she hoped that if she stayed where she was, she could beat the inevitable cave-in.

But, as the last man was crossing her door, the tunnel caved in on top of him and Chloe was trapped in the dugout. She saw the guy who was being crushed, his head and arms were hanging out, he begged for death and she granted him the request.

She turned around and she looked around her new tomb, she turned on her phone's flashlight and she saw a few candles sitting on a table, after lighting them with some old matches she found she sat down at a chair that was sitting by a small table and she just reflected on what had just happened.

She didn't know what she could have possibly done to have gotten out of her situation. So, she decided to just take her mind off it. She explored the officer's quarters and she was fascinated at the level of preservation that everything was in, even the clothes the occupant must have worn were still intact. But there was only so much she could have seen or read through before she got bored.

An hour later her phone died and she didn't have a signal anyways, so she couldn't have contacted anyone if she had wanted to. Realizing her hopeless situation, she found an old journal which she read though before tearing out a spare sheet of paper. She found a pencil and she wrote down her farewells.

She raised her gun to her head, and sent a bullet into her skull.

XXXXXXXXX

Author's Note

I'm so sorry for the delay, but I just went through a bunch of standardized testing and let me just say, the state tests are ten times easier than the AP ones, just throwin' that out there for anyone taking an AP class. Also, if you're looking for a good documentary to watch, go and look up Time Team Special 33, the Lost WW1 Dugout. It's probably one of the coolest documentaries I've seen. Along with my obsession with WW1 since Battlefield 1 came out, I just had to include it into the story. Also, if you just so happen to be looking for a good piece of WW1 fiction, I'm currently reading through Her Privates We, and it's like Catch-22, but better, and in WW1.

Anyways, see ya next time.


	13. Chapter 13

It had been a month since Chloe had gone missing. Tracer was laying on her bunk at an airbase in northern Scotland and she was pondering where she could have gone. So far all she could find out was that her tracking device was found in a train wreck, it was disabled from an EMP blast too, so the investigators were very lucky to find it. They then found a trench from World War One that had been previously undiscovered somehow and they found several tracks and bullet casings there that were definitely not from the Great War.

Eventually the search party found the entrance to a dugout that had been caved in. But it was too unsafe to go digging with the equipment the party had, so they were still awaiting approval from the French government before they could start the excavation.

As Lena was thinking she heard someone walking towards her bunk. She raised her head a little and she saw a group of men walking down the rows of bunks that were mostly vacant, save for a few napping repairmen and pilots. Lena couldn't see them very well and she just assumed they were press, so she started to fake sleeping.

As she heard the men cross her bunk she heard them stop. She heard them talking in hushed voices and she kept up her facade. Finally she heard someone walking towards her and she resented them mentally for bothering her. The person shook her shoulder and she faked being woken up, she opened her eyes slowly and she saw her C.O.'s face in hers. She got up and saluted him as was protocol and she was put at ease.

"So, Corporal Oxton, this is Mr. Manning and Mr. Weest, they are representatives for an organization that has taken a liking to your abilities." Her C.O. said, "They would like to bring you onto their flight program as a test pilot." her C.O. continued.

"Huh, well, I guess lets go then!" Lena said quickly.

XXXXXXXX

After several months of flight simulations and prototype testing, the Slipstream was finally ready. Lena had been waiting for months for this moment, she had been overjoyed when Overwatch had proposed the test to her and she gleefully accepted, still being mindful that this could turn for the worst at any moment.

Lena was just getting done with her daily simulation tests and she was free for the rest of that day, so she ended up going down to the med bay to talk to Mercy, who'd taken a liking to Tracer over the months. When Tracer got to her office she saw Mercy sitting at her desk reading report on her computer.

"'Sup doc?" Lena said as she laid down on a couch. "Oh, um, I really don't know how to tell you this at all, but, um, Chloe was found." Angela said bluntly.

"Oh, she has, is she okay?" Lena said as she darted up from her place on the couch. She went over to the desk and she started to look over to the monitor, but all she saw was a bunch of words in fine print.

"No, she's dead, committed suicide." Angela said as she closed the report. Lena was left speechless as she baked up from the desk. "She was found in an officer's room in the dugout and she had a suicide note, but blood covered most of it. Though, there was some mention of you in it." Angela said as she looked down at her desk. She sighed deeply, trying to think of what to say next, but when she looked up, she saw Lena walking out the door.

XXXXXXXXX

Jake stared ominously at the capsule as the steam cleared away, he expected some sort of smell, but surprisingly enough there wasn't. He looked at the capsule and he saw the door open. Laying there was Chloe, she looked like she hadn't aged a day past her death day and she seemed to be in a relatively stable condition.

She slowly opened her eyes and she grunted as she tipped forward, Jake rushed over and caught her before she fell. "It's okay, you're safe, everything is fine. I'll explain everything later." Jake said as he guided her over to the table. She was slowly regaining her cognitive abilities and she even managed to put on the clothes that were provided for her. Jake sat her down in the chair and he sat across from her. Chloe was surprisingly calm and she was just staring around the room, especially at the capsule she came out of.

"So, uh, sorry about the rude, uh, awakening." Jake said. "Uhm, I really don't have any other way to tell you this Chloe, but, we resurrected you." Jake said. Chloe just looked at him, not in any sort of creepy way, but in a very neutral way.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice clear. "Well, uh, I don't know if you remember it or not, but while you were on a mission for MI6 and Overwatch, you were cased into a trench in France, where you then died. Does that sound familiar to you at all?" Jake asked. "Yeah, is that why my head hurts?" Chloe asked. "Yeah, I guess so, I really don't know how you died, I just know that you did. But anyways, it's been eight years since your body was recovered, if my resources are correct, you should be about 26 years old, deceased at nineteen." Jake said calmly. "Yeah, if you say so." Chloe said naively.

"Alright, well, considering that you are in a very stable condition, I think it's about time that we start doing our treatments on you." Jake said as the door to the testing room opened. Several nurses and a few doctors came in and after loading her onto a stretcher and taking some vitals, they exited the room, with Jake in tow.

"Well, I've got to say, I'm surprised that it worked a second time." Sombra purred. "Yeah, Reaper, just promise me this, don't make it too painful for her." Jake said as he exited the room.

Reaper looked at Sombra and she nodded, then they left the room.

XXXXXX

Everyone was back at Gibraltar and it had been a while since any leads had come up from the intel they gathered from Jay's house. And Winston was starting to think that it was all a ploy to lead them in the wrong direction.

XXXXXXXX

Lena was in the canteen reading something on her phone when Joe walked in. He sat across from her and he cleared his throat. "Hey, what's up love?" Lena asked. "Oh, nothing, I just had a question. Remember the first night that I stayed here, we were both having trouble sleeping and we exchanged backstories. Were you telling the truth?" Joe asked calmly. "No, no I wasn't." she said. "Huh, well, I'm glad we're on the same page then, because there's some things that I suspect are happening. And from the research I've done on you in the past, it might just come to haunt you too." Joe said as he got up.

Lena was left confused as he walked out the door. And from then on she decided to be more careful around him, just in case.

XXXXXXXX

Joe was sitting at a park bench near the Watchpoint. In fact, the gates were just down the road. He looked at his watch, which wasn't anything fancy, just a simple watch, made of steel and black leather with a chrome finish, he had found it on a contract a few months before the Volskaya contract. And he'd been holding on to it ever since.

After about ten minuets, the person he was waiting for finally showed up. It was late at night and the park was deserted, so the mystery man was able to keep his mask on, at least in front of Joe, he planned to reveal himself personally since Zoe was too afraid to do so.

"Hello Joe." the man said as he sat down next to Joe. Joe looked off the other way and he muttered a reply. "So, it's been about two weeks since we've made our deal, I personally didn't think that I would be using it this early, but my superiors told me to. And trust me, me being shot wouldn't be good for either of us. So, I need you to observe and assist one of our agents while she does some field work. I'll send you the coordinates that you should go to. I'll meet you there in a weeks time at two-thirty in the afternoon." the man said as he took out a track phone and texted Joe the coordinates. Joe nodded and the man left.

Joe looked up the coordinates and he found them to lead to the city of Seattle. Joe sighed and he put the phone away and walked back to the Watchpoint.

XXXXXXX

Joe was outside an old and abandoned factory in Seattle, he had told everyone at the Watchpoint that he was going to Russia to track down an old friend, and he had gone to Russia, just to leave everything they could track him with there at a hotel room. The only things he had that were electronic were the track phone and his sleeve. Which he kept telling himself he should use more regularly, but he just hadn't had any decent opportunities.

Finally after a few minuets he felt his phone buzzing and he picked it up.

"Hello Joe, as of now we are going to use code names, you may call me Sandman." someone said through the phone, Joe assumed that it was the mystery man, but he wasn't quite sure yet. "Alright, okay. Rhody, you are going to go on top of the factory you are leaning against, up there is a sniper rifle, silenced of course. You will use this to keep track of our Agent as she infiltrates suburbs to assassinate and steal from prominent gang members on the block."

Joe thought this over for a second and he heard some scuffling from the other line. "Alright, go up the ladder, a grunt will be up there with you to point you in the right direction, though feel free to take his weapons if you are exposed and need close quarters weapons. Sandman out." the voice said cheerfully.

Joe sighed deeply into the brisk afternoon air and he made his way to a service ladder leading to the roof. There, as said, was a nervous looking Talon soldier who quickly gave him the street name and the compass directions for it. Joe nodded as he started to load his rifle. He laid down on the roof near a corner and he took aim at the street in question, he shifted a little and he could see the whole street clearly.

It was around three o' clock then and the sidewalks were alive with children going back to their homes. Even though he was less than a mile away with a high-powered scope, he could still barely see their faces. He tried to adjust the focus of his scope, but it did little to help.

After fifteen minuets of observation he received another phone call. He picked it up and he heard a woman's voice on the other end.

"Hello Rhody, call me Vigor, I'm at the far end of the street, get your sights on me. I'm dressed in black, and I should be sitting on a bench near a bus stop. Do you have eyes on me?" Vigor asked. Joe took a few seconds to locate her but he did and he grunted a yes through the phone.

"Alright, Rhody, I'm going to be heading to the house across from me in approximately two minuets, or until the coast is clear. There I will kill a man named Carl Johnson and I will acquire some intelligence from him too. I will then proceed to the end of the street where I will attempt to escape in the red pick up truck with the license plate X32TTU8. Clear?" Vigor asked. Joe quickly said yes and after a few minuets she got up and she entered the house.

After a minuet, Joe saw a flash in one of the second floor windows and he saw people running like mad from the house. ' _Idiots, why doesn't she have a silencer?'_ Joe thought as he aimed his rifle towards the front door. After a few minuets, he saw several people run towards the house wielding mostly pistols, but some had shotguns and SMGs. Joe started to pick them off and they were left scared and confused as they ran for cover. Finally Vigor emerged from the house and she took cover as she was put under fire from the gunmen in the street. She eventually fought her way up the street with help from Joe and she managed to get away. All the while staying on the phone, using call outs.

"Uh, Rhody, watch your six." Vigor said as Joe chambered another bullet. Joe turned around and he saw what looked like an Overwatch drop ship approaching. Joe went into panic mode and he started to gather his things up. The grunt supervising him was left confused as Joe started to come towards him, looking to get his guns.

"Alright, Sandman said that I was liable to take your guns at any point that I wanted, so, hand 'em over." Joe said casually as he stood face to face with the grunt. "Uh, Mr. Rhody sir, I'm sorry, but that can't happen." the grunt said, his voice weak and shaky. "Okay, what's you name?" "Amos Mr. Rhody." "Well, here's the situation Amos, you need to give me those guns now so I can stop Vigor's gruesome end or capture. And let me tell you something." Joe said, he wrapped his arm around Amos's shoulders as a big brother would do and Joe walked him towards the place he was sniping at, right near the edge.

"Listen, I know that you're a grunt and that no one really tells you anything about the types of missions that you got on, you are told orders and you're meant to do them as quickly and as efficiently as possible. But, if you really want to go somewhere in an organization such as Talon, you've gotta be bold, you've gotta have Moxie kid! So, why don't you show me, and your boss, that you have that courage and boldness, by giving me those guns." Joe said as he stuck his other hand out over the city.

"Uh, sorry, but the answer is still no, orders are orders." Amos said his voice even more shaky. Joe let go of the kid and he sighed in disappointment. "Kid, I just want to say one thing, I'm sorry." Joe said as he whipped around and punched the grunt's head clean off, with he help of his sleeve and gloves, it came off easily. The head went flying off the roof and it landed in some poor old person's back yard. Joe picked up the weapons the grunt had on him. It wasn't anything special, just a PP Bizon and a M9 Beretta, he grabbed all the ammo he could from the grunt and he slid down the ladder and he then hijacked a car. He then started to follow the drop ship, which was now actively per pursuing Vigor.

XXXXXXX

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait times for chapters, but I want to take my time on these and make them good. I also have a bunch of stuff going on IRL such as finals and a big, out of country, trip. So, don't expect anything for a while, but I'll do my best to at least get something done.

But anyways, please leave a review it helps my Ultimate charge.

See you next time.


	14. Chapter 14

Lena was sitting at Chloe's funeral, she didn't know why her parents had paid for the whole thing, completely denying any funds from the government. But she guessed that it was a decision made in grief.

Lena desperately wanted to talk to them and her parents as well, but she was chosen to be a pallbearer. So she was sectioned off with the others, she didn't know most of them too well.

XXXXX

After the service was over Lena helped the other pallbearers with the coffin and they all went up to the town's local cemetery where a burial service took place. Upon arrival, The Jones's were greeted by several people in military formal wear and they were carted off somewhere. But as soon as they returned, they were looking pretty down and they lead the procession up to the mausoleum where Chloe would be for the rest of time.

Lena followed along carrying the casket with the other bearers and they finally rested it on a shelf with all the others and a priest started to rattle off prayers and after a few minuets they were all out and they were allowed to leave. Lena tried to just head back to her rental car that she had driven there, but she was tapped on the shoulder by someone behind her. As she turned around, she was met with a hit to the face. She didn't see who it was from, but she staggered off a few feet away and she heard who ever had hit her coming for round two.

She dodged the second swing and she hit him on a pressure point on his shoulder and he was knocked out. She turned the person's body around and there she saw Mr. Jones. Mrs. Jones came up behind Lena and she looked down at her husband's sleeping form. Lena muttered an apology and she quickly left.

XXXXXXX

Joe was in a mad pursuit of the drop ship. It was flying fairly close to the ground and by the time Joe had caught up to it the streets had vacated, so Joe had no need to negotiate traffic. He was telling Vigor over the phone to find the straightest road that she could and to just keep driving.

Eventually they came to a five hundred yard stretch and Joe floored it. He took the assault rifle he got from the Talon grunt he was with and he propped it up between the drivers seat and the gas pedal. Once it was in place he opened the driver's side door and he climbed onto the roof of the car.

He saw what looked like a maintenance ladder that was built into the ship and he jumped for it. He just barely caught the bottom rung and he began to climb up the ladder until he reached a hatch that was at the top. He opened it up and he dropped into a vent. He crawled through it until he reached what looked like the seating area of the ship. There he saw a woman sitting in a seat cleaning some sort of sniper rifle through a grate.

Joe drew his pistol and he pulled the slide. He then punched the grate and he dropped down. But as soon ass he was down he heard a noise and he fell unconscious.

"Armature." Ana said as she got up from her seat, reloading her sleep dart. She tied him up and sat him down on one of the seats in the room and she told Soldier 76, who was piloting the ship, what had happened.

He nodded and they withdrew from the chase.

XXXXXX

Joe woke up in a daze, he blinked a few times to get used to the light and he looked around. His hands were handcuffed behind him on the chair he was sitting on. He was locked in what looked like a makeshift cell. He looked around for any escape options but he didn't see any.

He looked out a small window that was barred closed and he saw that it was night time where ever he was. He thought he heard voices coming towards him and he looked over to the doorway. The old wooden door opened and he saw none other than Soldier 76 standing there with someone standing behind him.

"Hello there." Joe said, smiling a little. "Hello, glad to see you're finally awake. We would like to ask you some questions Rhody." Soldier said calmly as he and the other person brought in chairs and sat across from him.

"well, shoot." Joe said. "What are you doing with Talon? From our intel, you owe your allegiance to Overwatch." the woman asked. "Well, I was paying a debt. Plus, I wanted to experience the thrill, for the kill." Joe said. Soldier and Ana looked at themselves confused and Ana nodded. "So, you did it to pay a debt. Who do you owe it to?" Soldier asked. "Well, I'm not too sure to tell you the truth, but I suspect it might be a guy named Jake, but I'm not too sure." Joe said calmly, he had figured it was Jake, just from the way the man had been acting, but he desperately wanted that notion to be false.

The two former commanders left and Joe was left alone. He waited for their footsteps to go out of his hearing range and he began to work on his handcuffs. Just form the feel of them, he figured that they were pretty cheap, so he used his enhanced strength to pull them apart. He eventually broke the chain and to his surprise it was quite silent, so, he moved over to the window, which he figured he could crawl through.

SO, he pried off the bars one by one and he wiggled through. When he got through he dropped a few feet onto a sidewalk. He got up, rubbing his head slightly and he looked around. He was in an alley, pretty deep it seemed. He heard cars to his right a few hundred yards away and he started to go towards them.

He made it to the end of the alley without much incident and he looked back to where he came out. As he was about to face the street, which looked like a fairly busy intersection in a sort of Chinatown, he saw a red line poking out of the window he came from and Joe recognized it as Soldier's visor. He then started to run as a door to his right burst open.

XXXXXXX

Winston, Tracer, and Zoe were all in the command room watching a monitor. It was showing what had went down in Seattle the day before and they were watching the local news report on it.

"And eye-witness reports report that this man, was seen climbing out of a car that was following the aircraft and he is reported jumping onto the side and through what looks like a maintenance hatch at the top of the craft. There is speculation that the ship belongs to the former Overwatch pilot, Lena Oxton, otherwise known as Tracer, who rose to prominence after her role in quelling the King's Row Uprising. And as of this report, the CIA has launched an investigation into the matter. Back to you John." the reporter said, meanwhile, pictures of Joe's climb and Tracer during the Uprising were flashing on the screen.

"That fucker!" Lena shouted as Zoe turned off the screen. Lena got up from her chair and she started pacing around. Winston and Zoe were quite surprised at the outburst, Lena hadn't been this mad in a really long time. "FUCK!" she yelled as she punched a computer screen, breaking it into pieces, except for the frame.

:Lena, chill, this is probably a huge misunderstanding." Winston said calmly. "Bullshit, I kept telling you Winston, you can't trust these people." she said harshly, Zoe gazed at her curiously. "Lena, seriously we need to figure out what's going on here first before we can proceed. Athena, can you give me a report on what exactly happened?" Winston said. "Yes, it is believed that the assassination of prominent gang leader and weapons maker, Carl Johnson, was linked with the chase that involved a retired Overwatch drop ship that is linked to Agent Lena Oxton. After a mysterious man entered the drop ship however, the ship pulled out of the chase and the person who had been chased, escaped in the chaos." Athena replied quickly.

"Alright, what can you find out about Carl?" Winston asked. "He is a known gang leader in the Seattle area and is also connected to the illegal weapons trade on the manufacturing side. He hasn't been arrested due to a lack of physical evidence along with most of the police force being under his bribery. It is also suspected that he was a benefactor of the old Overwatch organization under an alias. And he is suspected of being killed by the rival group, Talon, because of this." Athena said.

"Well then. That changes things up a bit." Winston said. "A bit? That's a lot of credible evidence against Joe." Zoe said quietly. "Correct." Lena said, a bit meaner than she really meant for it to be. Zoe shrunk back and she started to look at her phone. "That wanker is working with Talon I bet. We should go get 'im." Lena said.

XXXXX

Sombra looked into the room smiling, she had everything she needed. She clicked her tape recorder and she teleported out.

XXXXXX

Author's Note

Hope you liked this chapter. Because it'll be a while until my next one comes out. Because I'm going out-of-country for a little more than a week. But anyways, what do you guys think about E3 so far? I personally am disappointed, since there's no Red Dead Redemption 2 news, but oh well. Please leave a review, let me know how I'm doing on this so far. See ya next time.


	15. Chapter 15

Joe had no idea where to go. He had been running away from his pursuer, who he couldn't make out, for a solid hour. He was hiding behind a dumpster and he saw them run past. They turned a corner and Joe was pretty sure he lost him. Joe got up from his spot and he went to the nearest payphone. He had found some hobo's abandoned change can, so he called a contact he knew and he managed to get a plane to London, and he also found out that he was in Boston, for some reason.

XXXXXX

Joe stumbled into his apartment. He slumped down on to his bed and he slept for a solid twelve hours, a combination of jet-lag and general fatigue exhausted him. Joe woke up and he went into his kitchen after a shower and he made himself some food and he watched Netflix for a bit. He finished up his meal and he wondered over to his computer and he started to look up news reports on what had actually happened in Seattle.

After looking through some of them he sighed in disappointment, he would have to explain everything to Overwatch, it wasn't going to be easy either.

He then heard his doorbell ring and he got up and he looked through the peephole. He saw no one, ' _probably just a flier_ ', he thought. But when he opened the door he saw nothing there, no paper, package, or envelope, nothing. He closed the door in confusion, assuming it was a ding dong ditch and he went back to his office.

He opened the door to the dim room and he saw a person sitting in his chair. They were facing him and she looked fairly familiar. "Do I know you, because I feel like I do." Joe said calmly. "Well I did give you a contract once, but that was a while ago. Anyways, name's Sombra." Sombra said as she got up. She stuck out her hand and Joe shook it. They both sat down and Sombra started to talk. "So, why are you here? What does Talon want from me now?" Joe asked.

"Well, it's not like they want something, you've already held up your end of the deal. But I came here by myself. I have something for you to listen to." she said as she pulled out her tape recorder. "Wow, that's pretty ancient right there." Joe said. "Yeah, but it's unhackable." Sombra said as she loaded up a tape.

She clicked the play button and the conversation between Tracer, Winston, and Zoe played loud and clear. When it ended, Joe leaned back in his office char and he thought for a bit.

"So, uh, Talon has an offer for you, I lied. You join up with them, and you help dismantle Overwatch." Sombra said. "Okay, I see no other option, besides maybe going back to merc work, so fine. Here's what I want. No mental conditioning or brainwash of any kind. We won't intentionally kill or seriously injure anyone from Watchpoint Rogue, including Zoe. And at the end, if we have the option, we spare anyone involved in Overwatch." Joe said simply. "Okay, I'll relay that to Talon, and we'll see what happens." Sombra said, quite pleased. She got up from her seat and she teleported out.

XXXXXXXXX

Joe had done something since he had met Sombra, he had already worked out the conditions of his contract and he was feeling pretty good about it. Because Talon wanted to get rid of Overwatch for the sheer sake of clearing up the global scene so there isn't another player for both Talon, but for the UN and Interpol to deal with. And once he thought about it for a bit, Joe agreed with them.

Joe sat at his computer looking through some files when he heard his doorbell ring. Considering that it was two in the afternoon on a weekday, he was curious to see who was there. He brought along a pistol that he had stashed in one of his desk drawers. He tucked it into the back of his waistband and he approached the door slowly. He looked into the peephole and again he saw nothing. He opened the door and he saw an envelope laying on the floor in front of his door. It was blank and Joe was really nervous at this point.

He cautiously lifted the envelope and he opened it. Hetook out the single paper inside it and he read it:

" _Well, then Joe. Seems like betrayal is your business. Ours is vengeance, and business is doing fine."_

Joe droped the evelope and paper and he heard someone running at the end of his hallway. He went into full panic and he drew his gun, he aimed at the person running toward him, he couldn't quite see who it was though He fired a shot and he missed as they returned fire with some sort of pulse weapon. Joe dashed back inside and he closed and locked the door, even making a makeshift door bar.

He rand back to his room and he slid over his bed and he took a weapons case out from under it. He opened it and he took out a pistol chest holster and he put it on. He loaded two pistols into the holsters and he grabbed as many magazines of ammo as he could. He then put on a pair of sneakers and he put on a brown leather jacket before going over to the biggest window in his apartment, which was next to his kitchen and extended from floor to ceiling and was about six feet wide.. Which was right in front of the door that was being repeatedly hit over and over.

Joe looked down and he saw a window cleaner's platform a few floor below him, he took one of the chairs in his kitchen and he broke the window. There was a crowd below and they started running to avoid the falling debris, as were the police who had shown up at that point. Joe looked down at the cleaner's platform and he saw the cleaner trying to lower it, Joe shot him in the leg. He heard the door burst open and he turned to see who it was. He saw Tracer standing there with Winston in her wake. Joe stuck out his arms in a mocking way and he heard Tracer yell something before jumping.

Joe landed on the platform cleanly and he went over to the controls. He lowered it to the next apartment and he patched up the cleaner's leg quickly before he shot out the window to the apartment. Luckily the cleaner had passed out from shock, so he didn't see or feel a thing. Joe found the apartment he entered to be abandoned due to the police evacuation and he went out into the hallway to find a stream of people running for the stairs. Joe went along with them and he made it down to the parking garage where he made his way to a private garage that he owned.

It looked like a storage container, but when he opened his he was met with his car, it wasn't anything fancy, but it was fast and could carry a lot. Which was useful, since it was basically a mobile armory and home for Joe in cases like dorve out of the garage and he kept driving until he got to the freeway, at that point he was doing over a hundred and he was absolutely sure he gave them the slip. So, he pulled ove rto get some gas and while he was, he took out his phone and he activated a remote EMP that would knock out any form of electronic in his apartment that wasn't medical, he made sure of that for Tracer's sake and it would also wipe any hard drive in the building too. He finished filling up his car and he went along his way towards the English Chanel.

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Author's Note

So, a bit of a short chapter but oh well. Hope you guys are liking the new Horizon map, I don't really like it due to that last fucking objective point, but hopefully Jeff can save us. Also, I think we are gonna get a new hero soon, at least if the Overwatch twitter has anything to say about it, so, get hyped!

Happy 4th of July and I'll see ya next time.


	16. Chapter 16

Chloe stood outside Jake's office, she sighed as she knocked on the door. The door opened swiftly and Jake invited her in. She sat down across from him at his desk, which wasn't much, just a metal office desk you would see at any old office. He was staring at something on his computer's screen and he finally stopped and he looked right at her. "Vigor, this could be our chance." Jake said quietly. "With Nano right?" Chloe asked. Jake nodded curtly and he subtly pointed to a corner of his room where a small black box was, barely visible, but it was there.

"I think we should talk about this somewhere else. Meet me out in the hangars at two in the afternoon tomorrow, you know why." Jake said as he silently slid a piece of paper over to Chloe. "Alright, see ya then." Chloe said as she slipped it into her pocket, silent as a cat.

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Chloe stood outside the kitchens where the trash went. She leaned against a wall far from any doors, she had a lit cigarette in her fingers, just to pass herself off as taking a smoke break in case anyone came out.

Her phone started to vibrate and she waited a few seconds before answering. She checked the caller ID and it read Jake. She answered the call, "Iron from Ice." she said into the phone. "Forrester." Jake said. They used names and mottoes from a book series they liked to use as authentication, and so far it had been working. "Alright, you in good cover?" Chloe asked. "Yes, the guy who's tailing me this time is across the hangar, well out of earshot. And cameras are down for maintenance." Jake said. "Alright, what is it that's so important?" Chloe asked as she looked around quickly. "Well, Vigor, you know about that Doomfist assignment we were assigned to?" Jake said quickly. "Yeah, what about it?" Chloe asked, slightly worried. "Well, I think Reaper is on to our plans with Nano, and if we don't do it on this op we might never succeed. We need to tell Rhody about it now. Sombra's already cool with it too, but I still don't trust her." Jake said. "Alright, we will need to tread extremely carefully on this one then, are you sure Sombra can still be trusted?" Chloe asked quickly. "Well, for now I think we can trust her, since we have that dirt on her. So I think we can still use her, what I'm worried about the most is Pharah from Helix. She's stationed there and I'm absolutely sure Soldier and Ana will show up, so we need to make sure Pharah doesn't see her." "Alright, Ours is the Fury." "Baratheon." Jake said quickly as he cut off the call.

Chloe sighed with mixed feelings, she didn't know how her and Jake's little plan will go, but she hoped that Overwatch were willing to accept Jake and her if they succeeded.

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Joe was speeding down a French road. He was a few miles out from Paris and he was sure he could lose Tracer and Winston there. At first he wasn't too sure if he was being followed, but after a nasty scrap with them in Amiens, he was sure they were still on him.

XXXXXX

Tracer and Winston were flying back to Gibraltar. They were beaten and bloodied by Rhody back in Amiens, Tracer sporting a cut lip and a bruised up cheek and she probably had a concussion too. Winston had a few bones broken and he was trying to rest with the help of Zoe, who had stayed on the ship as a getaway pilot.

They finally landed and the ship's ramp dropped. Tracer staggered out and she accidentally blinked a few times in random directions. She made her way to the med bay with Winston and Zoe and they started patching up.

"Alright, I want both of you to report to the command room tomorrow, we've earned a rest I think." Winston said as he exited the room with Zoe's help. Tracer nodded as she exited the room too, still a bit disoriented. She wanted to find Emily, she hadn't seen her since they left, and even then it was brief.

She went to the barracks and without looking she slumped down onto the nearest bed she could and she heard the door open and she heard someone walk in before she passed out.

Emily saw Lena laying on her bed, She seemed so peaceful there, even though her face was covered with bruises and small cuts that had been bandaged. She sat on the foot of the bed and she just watched over her for a while. Emily eventually got up and she joined Lena in sleep.

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Joe was in Paris's airport, he was getting a plane to Venice to meet up with Talon. He had contacted Sombra and that's where she wanted him to be. He was just abut to board when he saw someone he thought he recognized through the crowd, someone he realty didn't want to see.

"Sir?" the flight attendant said as he was looking back. "Oh, sorry about that." Joe said as he handed over his boarding pass. He walked through the boarding tunnel and he eventually took his seat. He saw the other person board too, and Joe was a little surprised that they bothered to get first class. It was only an hour and a half flight. But Joe decided to keep his guard up.

After takeoff, Joe took out his phone and he decided to contact Sombra.

 _J: Why are so sending Agents after me?_

 _S: I'm not._

 _J: Sure you didn't. Maybe someone else did, I need you to look into it._

 _S: Hey there buddy, you don't command me. I'm the one calling the shots here._

 _J: You think your actually in charge here don't you ? Because I can literally turn you into mush. Now, please, tell me why Jake is on this fucking plane with me._

 _S: Ha, you're funny. But let me assure you, he isn't there for trouble. He's there for the same reasons you are._

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Author's Note

Sorry about the really long delay for this chapter. But I recently got a new job and I've found myself with less free time. I'm also planning another fic based in the Game of Thrones Universe soon, so stay tuned if you're interested for that. I'm also writing an original story over on Fiction Press, it's a weird story, but I like it so far. Go look me up there if you're interested. Another thing that kept screwing me up was all the lore drops that kept happening as I was writing this. Doomfist got announced and was edited a ton during the writing and Masquerade also came out.

Anyways, have a good day and I'll see ya next time.


	17. Chapter 17

The plane was about halfway through it's flight path and Joe was looking out the window, he had brought a book to read, but he had finished it a few minuets ago. He was wrapped up in his own thoughts enough to where he didn't hear a stewardess who was trying to get his attention. The guy next to him tapped on his shoulder and he turned around to face the stewardess. She handed him a glass of wine and a note, which she said came from a man in first class. Joe assumed it was Jake and he was right.

Joe unfolded the note and he read it.

 _Meet me in the Basilica Santa Maria two hours from landing._

 _-Jake_

Joe put the note in his pocket and he looked out the window again, sipping his wine.

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Joe was sailing along a canal towards the meeting place Jake had told him to go. All Joe had on him was his concealed carry, which wouldn't do much if Jake had body armor, but at least he was armed.

Joe disembarked and he went towards the Basilica. He went through the front doors and he went to the main hall of the church and he saw a man praying near the front by the altar. He was the only one in the room and Joe assumed it was his old partner.

Joe walked down the aisle and he took a seat next to the man. He stopped praying and he sat back.

"You've seen better days." Joe said. "Yeah I suppose so. Anyways, we have a new assignment. Several high-ranking members of Talon are meeting tonight at a masquerade ball. They want no risk of having a breach I security, so we are to provide that." Jake said calmly. "Alright, and how're we doing that?" "Well, Sombra is going to take care of cameras and alarms. Reaper will take care of security forces. And Widowmaker will be taking care of a few high profile guests. That leaves us and Vigor. We are going to be guarding the premises from any Overwatch interference. It's not very likely Overwatch will arrive, but Doomfist doesn't want to take chances." Jake said calmly. "Doomfist is free again?" Joe said, slightly shocked. "Yeah, has been for a while." Jake said. "Alright, this is a mask party right? Do I need to get a costume for myself?" Joe asked. "No, I've go that covered." Jake said as he slid a briefcase over to Joe. "Alright, where and when is this going down?" "Here." Jake said as he handed Joe a note card with an address on it. Joe nodded and he stood up and he was about to leave when Jake spoke up again. "One more thing Joe. Vigor and I need to talk to you at some point about something we've been planning. I don't have the time to explain it now, but I'll let you know when the time is right." Jake said. "Okay." Joe said as he left, briefcase in hand.

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Tracer and Winston were in the ORCA's cockpit, they hadn't been speaking much as they were both still shocked at what Joe had done to them in Amiens. Bu they were thankful they were still alive.

Zoe and them were heading towards Venice to intercept a Talon Agent, or that's what Athena had told them would be happening. They had everything set up and in place to intercept them and They were just a few minuets away from landing. Little did they know though, they would find something much bigger than anticipated.

XXXXXXX

Joe was in his hotel room and he was finishing up getting his costume on. He looked in the mirror and he sighed. He looked like a rip-off Zoro and he had been silently hoping for something a bit more classy.

He made his way to an old opera house near the center of the city and he made his way through the main ball room, when he arrived it was vacant, with only a few janitors cleaning and getting ready for the ball. He went to the back rooms where he saw a few cooks and waiters bumming around and he eventually found where he needed to be.

He opened the door to what looked like a big conference room, there was nobody there but that's where Jake told him to be in his note.

He sat down at one of the heads of the table and he took out his gun and he started to load some spare magazines. He spent another fifteen minuets doing this before he heard two voices coming towards him. He was in the middle of loading one of his clips so he didn't bother cleaning up.

"Sir, I'm I implore you to just go and wait for Reaper and Widow, I have everything else covered." Jake said as the doors opened. "Yes Jake, and if I am correct, your definition of 'covered' is having two old Overwatch Agents interfere out of nowhere. Especially when they could've been stopped if you weren't so incompetent." a man said back. Jake was the first through the doorway, he was followed by a woman Joe assumed was Vigor, and finally a tall, burly man followed them. Joe didn't recognize him instantly, but he thought he had seen him before.

"Oh, well, he's already here." Jake said calmly. The man Joe didn't know stared Joe down, Joe could sense he was trying to make a sense of superiority over him, so Joe made eye contact back and he leaned forward he squinted slightly and he crossed his hands. The man stopped his attempt and he sat down a few chairs from Joe on the right side. Vigor went around the table and she sat down across from the man and Jake was left standing by himself, he had a look of panic on his face. "Uh, well, Joe, this is, uh..." Jake started to say, he was interrupted by the man. "Jake, go and sit down." the words resonated through the room with a powerful loudness and Jake nodded meekly as he took a seat behind the man.

"So, according to my less than competent lieutenant, you are Joe Rhody, is that right?" the man said. "Yes, that would be me. Before you start what I would expect to be an attempt to put me in my place, who am I speaking to?" Joe said casually as he returned to loading his clip. "Well then, you have a respectable amount of confidence. So I will grant your request. My name is Akande Ogundimu, or as most people call me. Doomfist." Joe nodded, keeping a cool face on him. "Alright Akande, what do you need me to do, because it looks like you're calling the shots here." Joe said, earning a dirty look from Jake.

"Well, as I understand it, you've been recently ejected from the services of Overwatch." Doomfist said calmly. "Yes I have, if you want to put it that way. I really wasn't a member anyways, they were the ones paying me at the time." Joe said as he finished his second to last clip. "Well then, that seems like it works in both of our favors. I would like to offer you membership into Talon. You will have access to our network of intelligence, our weapons, and anything else you might desire." Doomfist said . "Well, Akande, I've heard this offer from many different people for many different things. I heard it from Volskaya, I've heard it from Lumerico, I've heard it from Jehovah's fucking Witness, I've heard it from a god damn talking gorilla from the moon. What makes your organization so special. I already have access to a huge network of intel and I could have any gun or whatever thing that kills in front of me in a day's time. And I really don't need your money either, because I've already made hundreds of millions just for killing. Why should I join you, instead of settling down and doing something more worthwhile other than killing people for other people?" Joe said.

Doomfist hadn't anticipated such a strong response and it took him a few seconds to respond, "Well, Mr. Rhody, what do you think you're going to do if you leave this life? Are you going to write and purplish your memoirs and try to take Overwatch and Talon down for good? Or are you going to die in peace? Or, Joe, if you join me, you can be apart of something much bigger, something that will change the world forever." Doomfist said, he leaned forward and he stuck out his hand.

"Well, you say you have something big planned, but you don't explain it, so please, explain it for me." Joe said. Doomfist smirked, pleased with Joe's response, he was exactly what Doomfist was looking for. "Well, I have a simple philosophy that I like to run this organization with, and that is humanity can only evolve through conflict. And right now, What I'm trying to do is take humanity to that next level. That is what Talon is truly about, the other leaders may just be in it for profit, but they forget that the real purpose is to help humanity. Now I ask you again, are you with us?" Doomfist said, a little more forcibly this time. "Let's just see how tonight goes, then we'll talk." Joe said as he got up. Jake and Vigor got up too and they left.

Doomfist sat back in his chair and he smiled. Joe Rhody was exactly who he needed.

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Author's Note

Sorry for the delays on the chapters, and I wanted to have this up yesterday, but power outages are a bitch. And I'm also working on two other projects at the moment. So stay tuned because one of them is ready to come out very soon!

See ya next time.


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